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Dead Pool 23rd April 2017

Welcome Poolers, not a good week if you were a sportsman, many of which seemed to be dropping like flies at a young age last week. Alas nobody deemed them worthy to have been picked as Mavericks, but we do have some points to award, albeit slightly delayed. Doug pointed out that Jane Freeman of The Last of the Summer Wine fame, died in March at the age of 81. I have no idea how we missed this, but we did, so belated points to Doug!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

Renowned Italian-born conservationist Kuki Gallmann has been shot and injured in an ambush at her conservation park in central Kenya. The author of the best-selling memoir I Dreamed of Africa was airlifted to hospital for treatment. Ms Gallmann, 73, owns the Laikipia Nature Conservancy. She also ran a luxury safari lodge that was burned down last month by suspected cattle herders, who have been in conflict with landowners. Herders have been invading private property in search of fresh grazing in the drought-stricken Laikipia region. British rancher Tristan Voorspuy, who also ran a safari company, was shot dead in early March while inspecting his lodges in Laikipia. There is no confirmation of who carried out the attack on Ms Gallmann, who was reportedly shot in the stomach. She was flown by helicopter to hospital in Nairobi to undergo treatment. Police believed that attack may have been in retaliation for a police operation that killed 100 cattle in the conservancy.

The Queen has celebrated her 91st birthday by taking part in one of her favourite activities – watching the races at Newbury Racecourse. It was a more modest affair than the national festivities for her 90th birthday last year. But military salutes were held across the UK to mark the occasion – including a 21-gun salute of tiny cannons fired by children at Windsor Castle. The Queen, who reached her 65-year Sapphire Jubilee in February, is Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, which also means that the longer she survives the less points she’s worth.

An Indian hospital treating an Egyptian woman, believed to have been the world’s heaviest woman, says she has lost 250kg (550lbs) after surgery. Eman Abd El Aty’s family said she originally weighed 500kg – and was unable to leave her home for 25 years. Ms Abd El Aty underwent bariatric surgery at Mumbai’s Saifee hospital two months ago. The hospital said she could now fit into a wheelchair and sit up for longer periods of time. The hospital has released new pictures of Ms Abd El Aty following weight reduction surgery. Bariatric surgery is used as a last resort to treat people who are dangerously obese (having a body mass index of 40 or above, or 35 with other obesity-related health conditions). Dr Lakdawala said in a statement that Ms Abd El Aty continued to “rapidly” lose weight, but added that a stroke she had suffered as a child meant that she was still paralysed on one side of her body and continued to suffer convulsions. She also has difficulty speaking and swallowing. The statement added that the hospital was now waiting for her to lose enough weight for her to be able to fit inside a CT scan machine to ascertain the cause of her stroke. Ms Abd El Aty’s weight loss means she may no longer be the heaviest woman alive. The Guinness world records says the heaviest woman living is Pauline Potter in the US, who weighed 293.6 kg (643 lbs) when measured in July 2012.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Jeffrey Dean Morgan (51), Amber Heard (31), Jack Nicholson (80), Sheryl Lee (50), John Waters (71), Glen Campbell (81), James McAvoy (38), Andie MacDowell (59), Tony Danza (66), Iggy Pop (70), Jessica Lange (68), Andy Serkis (53), Clint Howard (58), Carmen Electra (45), Ryan O’Neal (76), George Takei (80), Nicholas Lyndhurst (56), Leslie Phillips (93), Hayden Christensen (36), James Franco (39), Tim Curry (71), Kate Hudson (38), Ashley Judd (49), David Tennant (46), Edgar Wright (43), Hayley Mills (71), Eli Roth (45), Rick Moranis (64), James Woods (70), Conan O’Brien (54), Rooney Mara (32), Jennifer Garner (45), Sean Bean (58), David Bradley (75) and Victoria Beckham (43).

23rd April 2017 | Categories: 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 16th April 2017

Welcome to the Easter Weekend tardiness edition of The Dead Pool. Apologies for the lateness of this issue, life got in the way. But what have we here? Points? With the death of the last known person born in the 1800’s, we have the following to congratulate: Julie, Paul C. and Dave listed her as a Cert, 133 points each. Laura and Lee both had her as their Woman, 133 points each and Stu just had her listed and got a pitiful 33 points.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

 In Other News

Buck up folks, it looks like you should have listed a few Death Row inmates on your lists as Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson is defending his decision to put to death seven prisoners over an 11-day period starting on Monday! The executions have drawn international attention and have been condemned by rights groups as an “assembly line” and a violation of the US legal process, but this is the New American Way. The unprecedented pace is due to one of the drugs used expiring later this month and they surely don’t want to waste that shit. Midazolam – one part of the three-drug lethal injection “cocktail” – is set to expire at the end of April, and has been criticised as contributing to several botched executions in other states. Governor Hutchinson says he is confident that the drugs will work as expected, and that he is satisfied the prison staff can handle the executions, six of which are happening over only three days.

The Only Way Is Essex star Amber Dowding has returned home from hospital after worrying fans with an announcement that she had fallen ill. But taking to Instagram after the ordeal, the 23-year-old ensured fans that she’s back at home after battling the mystery illness. Sharing a ‘stunning’ selfie, Amber looked healthy while posing for the camera with a full face of makeup and her long blonde locks worn in a stylish up-do. And after worrying her followers with the news that she was in hospital earlier this week, the reality star made sure to confirm that she’s now returned home. Earlier this week the blonde bombshell shared a photo of herself, revealing she’d been taken to hospital in her glamorous get-up. Hopefully the NHS are sending a bill.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to be a better momma and a better woman,” fallen UK soap star Danniella Westbrook posted on Instagram ahead of yet another stint in rehab in the hope of “battling her demons” once and for all. The 43-year-old former child actor who became a star in the UK thanks to hit soap EastEnders announced that she was checking herself into rehab for “all of her addictions”. It’s the latest chapter in a two-decade slide which included a cocaine habit so bad her septum collapsed. The return to rehab comes after Westbrook appeared on UK TV show In Therapy last year, spilling details of her history of sexual abuse, the breakdown of her relationships, and her battles to get clean.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Ellen Barkin (63), Emma Watson (27), Emma Thompson (58), Maisie Williams (20), Seth Rogen (35), Sarah Michelle Gellar (40), Adrien Brody (44), Robert Carlyle (56), Peter Capaldi (59), Julie Christie (77), Ron Perlman (67), Peter Davison (66), Claire Danes (38), Ed O’Neill (71), Andy Garcia (61), Shannen Doherty (46), David Cassidy (67), Joss Stone (30), Jeremy Clarkson (57), John Milius (73), Daisy Ridley (25), Haley Joel Osment (29), Steven Seagal (65) and Max von Sydow (88).

16th April 2017 | Categories: 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 9th April 2017

Another strange pointless week, so another run of the mill newsletter. So, let’s ask our little community to contribute. If you feel you have an article for the newsletter within you, please forward it and it shall appear. We’ve had quite a few successful contributions over the years, some people even producing a series of articles, all of which were amazing. Another thing you could do to help out is to forward any interesting stories about death you might stumble upon, even though I do trawl through five different news RSS feeds a week, I do miss a lot. Anyhow….

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

Former England hooker Brian Moore has announced he is recovering in hospital after suffering a heart attack. The 55-year-old, whose international career spanned eight years between 1987 and 1995, revealed the news on his Twitter account on Saturday morning. He wrote: “As this is starting to get out – I’m in ICU of St George’s having suffered heart attack. Thanks to the professionals who saved my life.” Moore made 64 appearances in an England shirt and has since gone on to become a television pundit. The RFU was among those offering best wishes to Moore. Former team-mates and others associated with the sport were also among the well-wishers, while Moore himself later responded to the many messages of support with a light-hearted quip. “I’m trying to work out whether nearly 5K of likes over the news I’ve had a heart attack is sympathy or schadenfreude,” he wrote on Twitter.

The BBC faced criticism on Wednesday after it mistakenly reported that the DJ Brian Matthew, who hosted its long-running Sounds of the 60s programme, had died. The broadcaster had been told by his family that he was critically ill. Less than three hours after announcing the veteran DJ’s death on air, with tributes led by the BBC’s director-general, Tony Hall, the corporation issued an embarrassing clarification. “We were informed by close family and friends that Brian had passed away in the night. They have since been in contact to say that he remains critically ill,” a statement said. But the statement did not include an apology for the earlier error, and a spokeswoman for Radio 2 said: “The family have their privacy and we respect that, and we support them at this time, but there isn’t anything to add to the statement.” For the record, Brian Matthew died yesterday, we’re pretty sure of it this time.

Michael Gambon has not travelled to Dublin to receive a special award at IFTAs ceremony after coming down with an illness. The Irish Film and Television Academy announced today that the legendary actor was taken into hospital earlier this week. According to a statement by the organisation he “has now been discharged, however, medical advice is that he is not well enough to travel to Dublin to receive his Lifetime Achievement Award at the IFTA Award Ceremony this weekend”. It continued: ” Michael had been determined to come to Dublin to receive his IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award. “Naturally, he is devastated not to be able to travel to be part of the Awards Ceremony. “The Irish Film and Television Academy has confirmed to Michael that he will receive his Lifetime Achievement Award at a special event to be held in his honour later this year. The Irish actor, who replaced the late Richard Harris in the role of Professor Albus Dumbledore, was to be recognised for a career spanning more than 50 years. Gambon, 76, is best known for his roles in TV drama The Singing Detective, cult movie The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover and Gosford Park.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Kristen Stewart (27), Elle Fanning (19), Dennis Quaid (63), Hugh M. Hefner (91), Robin Wright (51), Patricia Arquette (49), Emma Caulfield (44), Dean Norris (54), Russell Crowe (53), Jackie Chan (63), Francis Ford Coppola (78), Paul Rudd (48), Zach Braff (42), John Ratzenberger (70), Billy Dee Williams (80), Mitch Pileggi (65), Roger Corman (91), Pharrell Williams (44), Robert Downey Jr. (52), Hugo Weaving (57), Eddie Murphy (56), Alec Baldwin (59), Amanda Bynes (31), Paris Jackson (19) and Michael Fassbender (40).

9th April 2017 | Categories: 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 2nd April 2017

Yet another week lacking of celebrity news, and let’s be honest, the celebrity deaths are pretty much names you may have heard in passing at best. Shall we unleash the evil flying monkeys?

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News 

Linda Nolan has opened about about her fears following her secondary breast cancer diagnosis. The 58-year-old star recently confirmed the devastating news that she had breast cancer for the second time and that the disease was incurable. Speaking about the diagnosis, Linda admitted: “I am really scared, I don’t want to die. All my little nieces and nephews, my step-children and step-grandchildren, they are my life now because I never had children. “I want to grow old with my family. There is so much I want to do. I have to be positive and make sure I do.” Linda revealed that, although doctors had told her that the cancer was incurable, some people living with the same disease can live for up to 20 years. “I’m not going to be dying from cancer,” she insisted. “I’m going to be living with cancer if that’s what I have to do.” This is Linda’s second battle with breast cancer after she was first diagnosed with the disease back in 2007. While she was fighting the shattering illness, her husband of 27 years, Brian Hudson, lost his battle with skin cancer.

A missing Indonesian man was found  dead inside the body of a python, according to local police. Akbar went missing on Sunday on the island of Sulawesi, after leaving to harvest palm oil. In the search for the 25-year-old, police told BBC Indonesian that they had found a huge snake they suspected had swallowed the man. The reticulated python, reported to be 7m (23ft)-long, was cut open and the man’s body was found. Video shot by police showed the snake being cut open with a long knife, slowly revealing the man’s clothed body. Reticulated pythons are among the world’s longest reptiles and suffocate their victims before swallowing them whole. Pythons rarely kill and eat humans, although there are occasional reports of them swallowing young children or pets.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Mackenzie Davis (30), Ali MacGraw (78), Ewan McGregor (46), Christopher Walken (74), Rhea Perlman (69), Richard Chamberlain (83), Warren Beatty (80), Robbie Coltrane (67), Céline Dion (49), Kenneth Welsh (75), Eric Clapton (72), Lucy Lawless (49), Brendan Gleeson (62), Marina Sirtis (62), Christopher Lambert (60), Elle Macpherson (53), Eric Idle (74), Nick Frost (45), Julia Stiles (36), Vince Vaughn (47), Lady Gaga (31), Dianne Wiest (72), Chris Barrie (57), Quentin Tarantino (54), Nathan Fillion (46), Mariah Carey (48), Jessie J (29), Julian Glover (82), Fergie (42), Michael York (75), Keira Knightley (32), Jennifer Grey (57), James Caan (77), Diana Ross (73), Steven Tyler (69) and Martin Short (67).

Next week peeps!

2nd April 2017 | Categories: 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 26th March 2017

Welcome all, another week  goes by and we have a few  points to dispense. Luke scores 49  points with the demise of the man who not so secretly ruled the world, David Rockefeller and Sylvia scores 84 points with the welcomed death of ‘former’ terrorist Martin McGuinness. There’s not much in the way of news this week, but we do have a new points leader and some fun stories.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

In what we would all call a non-news event, headlined “Prince William’s air ambulance in near-miss with drone”, an air ambulance regularly piloted by the Duke of Cambridge ‘narrowly avoided’ a mid-air crash with a drone, a report by the BBC said. UK Airprox Board investigators said the Eurocopter 145, used by the East Anglian Air Ambulance, missed the remote-controlled machine “by chance”. There had been “high risk” of a crash, “endangering the EC145 and its crew” over a busy area, the report said. Prince William was not in the aircraft at the time but the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) said it had been flown repeatedly by the royal during his work for the service. So, in conclusion, a helicopter that didn’t contain Prince William, didn’t crash into a drone. I would also imagine that a drone made of plastic weighing around 2lbs wouldn’t cause much damage to a two ton helicopter with enough downdraft to shift nearly 8 tons. Think of a fly hitting your windscreen on the motorway if said fly wasn’t blown off course to begin with. Thank goodness that William survived!!!

The Mirror tried to shock readers with A MORBID website that has correctly predicted three celebrity deaths in 2017 – with 47 other famous faces remaining on the list for the next nine months. The death of world-renowned banker David Rockefeller is the third correctly predicted by a chilling website. He joins rugby legend Joost van der Westhuizen and American actress Mary Tyler Moore among the celebs to leave this year. A host of much-loved names make up the rest of the list – including Bruce Forsyth, Vera Lynn and even the Queen. But it is not just the famous faces we love and admire who make up the list no one wants to be on. “The Death List 2017” also predicts that Zimbabwe’s dictator Robert Mugabe and Moors murderer Ian Brady won’t make it until the end of the year. It seems to have picked its list based on celebrities who are either in their 80s or 90s or known to be suffering from ill health. The site has since been slammed by MediaWatch-UK. A spokesman said: “The idea of an annual Deathlist is not only morose and insensitive but I imagine deeply upsetting for the individuals named in it and their families. “While an awareness of our mortality can have the positive effect of helping us to live each day to its fullest; this list seems to delight in making accurate predictions about another human’s demise. In some cases, forum comments openly welcome certain celebrity deaths. Only three correct predictions? Phhht! They should have covered us!

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Lee Pace (38), Sarah Jessica Parker (52), Elton John (70), Jessica Chastain (40), Lara Flynn Boyle (46), Jim Parsons (43), Alyson Hannigan (42), Kelly LeBrock (56), Mary BerryBrad Dourif(82), Amanda Plummer (60), Reese Witherspoon (41), William Shatner (86), Gary Oldman (59), Matthew Broderick (55), Jaye Davidson (49), Timothy Dalton (73), Holly Hunter (59), David Thewlis (54), William Hurt (67), Spike Lee (60), Carl Reiner (95), Freema Agyeman (37), Jane March (44), Theresa Russell (60), John de Lancie (69), Bruce Willis (62), Glenn Close (70), Ursula Andress (81) and Brad Dourif (67).

Next week peeps!

26th March 2017 | Categories: 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 19th March 2017

Well! What can I say! A late showing by Chuck Berry last night saved us from another boring round up as we now have points to dispense!! Congratulations to Sylvia who gets 160 points for having him as a Cert and a well done to Mark, Nick and Debby, 60 points each for just listing him. Awesome job guys, let’s keep the momentum going, somehow…

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

Sir Michael Caine has dropped two stone amid growing fears that he might one day develop cancer. Caine84, has cut back on drinking and has thrown himself into a new healthy living regime as he wants to be around to see his grandchildren reach their late teens. He told the media: ‘I know my days are numbered and that’s the main worry.’ He continued: ‘I’ve had to cut back on the drinking and I’m always looking up what’s the best thing against cancer, so I’ll eat that or do this or not do that.’ The Oscar-winner – who has shed 30lbs on his health kick – admitted that he hopes to live at least another two years so he can be around for his grandchildren, six-year-old twins and a seven-year-old grandson. Sir Michael also credited his wife Shakira, 70, for keeping him going, as he admitted he would have been ‘dead long ago’ without her. He added: ‘Without her, I’d have been dead long ago. I used to drink a bottle of vodka a day and smoke several packs of cigarettes.’

Scottish comedian Billy Connolly has made a rare public appearance looking vastly different in a new charity video, after stepping back from the spotlight to battle both cancer and Parkinson’s Disease. The 74-year-old funnyman appeared pale, gaunt and subdued in a video calling for donations to Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day, in support of Alzheimer’s and dementia research. “Hello, Billy Connolly here asking for your cash,” he says to the camera. “Not for me obviously. I’ve got cancer and Parkinson’s and I definitely need a hair cut, but no,” he added, proving he had retained the sense of humour that made him famous. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2013 after an Australian fan who happened to be a doctor spotted him in a hotel lobby and advised him to seek medical advice for his “strange gait”. Just hours after Connolly was diagnosed with the degenerative disease he was told he had prostate cancer. He received treatment for the cancer soon after and was given the all-clear later that year. In an April 2016 interview, the comedian admitted he’d had suicidal thoughts since the Parkinson’s diagnosis.

And finally, Ben Affleck has said he has completed treatment for alcohol addiction. In a Facebook post, the Batman and Argo actor admitted that alcoholism was “something I’ve dealt with in the past and will continue to confront”. He said the latest course of treatment was “the first of many steps being taken towards a positive recovery”. His battles with drink problems stretch back more than 15 years, with his first reported stint in an alcohol treatment clinic taking place in 2001. In his new statement, he wrote: “I want to live life to the fullest and be the best father I can be. “I want my kids to know there is no shame in getting help when you need it, and to be a source of strength for anyone out there who needs help but is afraid to take the first step.” Sadly, with his recovery comes more bad news, he will star as Batman in the new upcoming film.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Brad Dourif (67), Luc Besson (58), Kurt Russell (66), Rob Lowe (53), Gary Sinise (62), John Boyega (25), Lesley-Anne Down (63), Patrick Duffy (68), Alan Tudyk (46), Erik Estrada (68),  Judah Friedlander (48), Eva Longoria (42), David Cronenberg (74), Will.i.am (42), Michael Caine (84), Sasha Grey (29), Billy Crystal (69), William H. Macy (67), Annabeth Gish (46), Jaimie Alexander (33), Aaron Eckhart (49), Liza Minnelli (71) and Ron Jeremy (64).

Next week peeps!

19th March 2017 | Categories: 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 12th March 2017

Welcome  Poolers, another week, another few pointless deaths. I shan’t waffle on, it’s a Sunday after all and we all need to get lazy! Those pants don’t get sat on by themselves!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has said he has never been “so sick” as he has felt in recent weeks. He was speaking to dignitaries in the capital, Abuja, after returning from seven weeks of medical leave in the UK. His absence led to some anxiety in Nigeria with people speculating about the president’s health. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo was left in charge and Mr Buhari’s spokesperson has tweeted that he will formally return to power on Monday. The 74-year-old flew into an air force base in the northern city of Kaduna from London on Friday morning. Despite talking about how he felt, Mr Buhari did not reveal any details of his condition. He did say he was “feeling much better now” but added that further medical checks would be required. These comments will do little to reassure critics who are questioning whether the president is fit enough to hold office. It is the second time in less than a year that Mr Buhari has sought medical assistance overseas. Last June, he spent nearly two weeks, again in London, for treatment for an ear infection.

An Egyptian woman, believed to be the world’s heaviest at 500kg (1,102lb or 79 Stone), has undergone weight reduction surgery. A spokesperson at Mumbai’s Saifee Hospital said Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty, 36, had lost 100kg since arriving in India in January, that’s one of me that is! “We are trying to get her fit enough to fly back to Egypt as soon as possible,” the hospital said in a statement. The spokesperson told the BBC that she was likely to lose more weight in the coming months. The surgery was performed by a team of doctors led by bariatric surgeon, Dr Muffazal Lakdawala. Bariatric surgery, also known as weight loss surgery, is used as a last resort to treat people who are dangerously obese.

Veteran French rocker Johnny Hallyday has announced that he is being treated for cancer, just hours before a glossy magazine was due to reveal his illness, describing it as a serious concern. “Johnny” – as his fans call the closest France has got to Elvis who is often dubbed “the biggest star you’ve never heard of” – was quick to reassure followers on Twitter that his life was not in danger. “I was actually screened a few months ago for cancer cells for which I am currently being treated,” he wrote. “My life is not in danger today,” added the 73-year-old. “I’m doing very well and am in good physical condition,” he added. Hallyday’s announcement came ahead of the publication on Thursday by Closer magazine, which claimed his condition was life threatening. British rock lovers may scoff, but Johnny enjoys cult following back home, having sold more than 100 million records in his decades-long career. His health has been the subject of media speculation since he was hospitalised in 2009 in the United States for complications following a hernia operation, and was put in an artificial coma. Hallyday is a colourful character loved for hits such as “Allumez le Feu”, but also home-grown versions of rock standards such as Elvis Presley’s Hound Dog and Bebop a Lula by Gene Vincent.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

John Barrowman (50), Johnny Knoxville (46), Nina Hartley (58), Robert Glenister (57), Olivia Wilde (33), Sharon Stone (59), Jon Hamm (46), Chuck Norris (77), Juliette Binoche (53), Freddie Prinze Jr. (41), Rachel Weisz (47), Bryan Cranston (61), Rob Reiner (70), Tom Arnold (58), Ellen Muth (36), Shaquille O’Neal (45), Eva Mendes (43), Jolene Blalock (42), Paul Blackthorne (48), Liza Minnelli (71), Aaron Eckhart (49), Jaimie Alexander (33), Penn Jillette (62) and Ron Jeremy (64).

Next week peeps!

12th March 2017 | Categories: 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 5th March 2017

The evil flying monkeys didn’t disappoint us last week, they caught a few famous names for us, alas no points though. Maybe we should send them out again, just to keep them in tip top condition. But one thing is for certain “It’s game over man, game over!” for Bill Paxton, one of two men who was killed by an Alien, a Predator and a Terminator, the other being Lance Henriksen, who at 76 years old is looking like he should have beaten Paxton to the grave.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

Sir Bruce Forsyth has returned home after spending five nights in intensive care following a severe chest infection. The 89-year-old’s manager said he had been in St Peter’s Hospital in Surrey since Sunday. “Sir Bruce Forsyth is scheduled to return home from hospital later today and would like to thank everyone for their good wishes,” Ian Wilson said. He added the entertainer thanked hospital staff for their care. In 2015, the presenter underwent keyhole surgery after suffering two aneurysms, which were discovered when tests were carried out following a fall at his Surrey home. Sir Bruce left Strictly Come Dancing in 2014, having presented it since the first series, but his manager denied reports last October that he had retired from the entertainment industry. At the time, Mr Wilson said Sir Bruce was “recuperating from various health issues”, adding: “His sole focus at the moment is to continue getting better and he has made no formal or informal decision about retiring from show business.” Sir Bruce has not been seen in public recently, and was too frail to attend the funerals of close friends Ronnie Corbett and Sir Terry Wogan last year. In an interview last October, his wife said he was still having “a bit of a problem moving”. “He’s in incredible shape mentally but he gets very tired,” she said, adding: “With a little bit of luck he should be back.”

Geological time – that’s what French artist Abraham Poincheval is hoping to experience over the next week, as he is entombed inside a limestone rock. He will become the “beating heart” of the 12-tonne boulder, he says – discovering how that perspective warps time and space. Poincheval is conducting his experiment at Paris’s Palais de Tokyo gallery. A space the shape of his body – and air holes – have been carved into the rock. There is also a place for supplies of water, soup and dried meat. Cables will monitor his heart and provide an emergency video link. Journalists looked on as workmen pressed together the two halves of the rock at the gallery on Wednesday. “The purpose is to feel the ageing stone inside the rock,” Poincheval said during his weeks of preparation for the ordeal. At the time, he was coy about how he would go to the toilet, but in the moments running up to his entombment he came clean to AFP news agency, admitting he would urinate into empty water bottles and sit on a small container to excrete. And the smell? “The stone will absorb some of the smell,” he said. “I think I can take it.” If he emerges intact from the boulder, Poincheval plans to sit on a dozen eggs for the three or four weeks they take to hatch.

Former England batsman James Taylor has said that he was “shot a few yards across the room” by his defibrillator. Taylor was forced to retire from cricket aged 26 after being diagnosed with a heart condition in 2016. He was fitted with an internal defibrillator in June for his irregular heartbeat, and he said it has since gone off on one occasion. “I can’t trust my heart. It’s keeping me alive, just about, but it’s being very temperamental,” he said. Addressing new members of the Professional Cricketers’ Association in Birmingham, Taylor, now 27, said: “The defibrillator has kicked in with real force. “It shot me a few yards across the room, probably because I’m small. “That’s probably why I’ve got the anxieties I have now and I’m a little bit scared of exerting myself or pushing myself in some way. “I know the feeling when it does go off, when things aren’t quite right. It’s a scary feeling and it hurts. It does its job, that’s the most important thing.”

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Chase Masterson (54), Adam Baldwin (55), Kate Mara (34), Timothy Spall (60), Richard Coyle (45), John Turturro (60), Rae Dawn Chong (56), Mercedes Ruehl (69), Stephanie Beacham (70), Javier Bardem (48), Ron Howard (63), Jensen Ackles (39), Zack Snyder (51), Dirk Benedict (72), Roger Daltrey (73), Harry Belafonte (90), Bryce Dallas Howard (36), Daniel Craig (49), Nathalie Emmanuel (28), Rebel Wilson (37), Gates McFadden (68), Jon Bon Jovi (55), Chris Martin (40), Alexander Armstrong (47), Julie Bowen (47), Miranda Richardson (59), Charlie Brooker (46) and Dominique Pinon (62).

Next week peeps!

5th March 2017 | Categories: 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 26th February 2017

What a struggle it has been to find dead celebrities this week. Here at Dead Pool Towers we forgive you for not listing the names below, no wonder there were no klaxons!!! However, The Clock of Doom still swings the eternal pendulum and next week promises a deluge of deaths as we’re sending out the flying monkeys!!!! Beware all celebrities, a portent has been proclaimed!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

Shannen Doherty has completed chemotherapy! To mark the momentous date in her breast cancer journey — which is almost exactly two years since she was diagnosed in March 2015 — the Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed actress took to Instagram on Friday to share the  news with her followers. “#fbf to this morning… not that long ago. Last day of chemo. Exhausted,” Doherty’s caption begins. In the social media photo, 45-year-old Doherty, who is snuggled in between the sheets of her bed, stares solemnly into the camera. “Now that I’m done with chemo and radiation, the waiting game is here. Waiting for test. Waiting to see if I’m clear or not. Waiting for reconstruction. Waiting,” the post continues. She concludes: “I think when one gets cancer, they are always waiting to a certain extent. To those who know… I’m waiting with you. #cancerslayer.” Since she fist opened up about her cancer battle, the actress has frequently documented the ups and downs of the diagnosis on social media, including shaving her head, her first day of radiation, and going to her appointments with her mother by her side.

Leah Bracknell has opened up about finding the light in the darkness of her terminal cancer diagnosis. The former Emmerdale actress made an appearance on Friday’s Loose Women to update fans on her health. She first revealed news of her devastating diagnosis last October, later launching a GoFundMe page in the hope of raising £50,000 for pioneering treatment. Speaking about living with stage four lung cancer, “I feel positive about life. You get told that they can’t do anything to help you and I’m thinking, ‘What do I do now?’ “I can’t change the diagnosis, but I can choose how I respond. Initially you are in complete meltdown. I didn’t tell anyone for two or three days while I tried to think of a way to tell them positively.” She continued: “I am going to choose to make positive decisions, I am going to choose to embrace life and I’m going to choose to be thankful that I have life, because I might not have done. “I didn’t want doctors to ‘guestimate’ what they thought my prognosis could be. It is based on statistics that could be out of date and not about my age or type of cancer. I don’t wake up every day feeling fearful – I wake up feeling grateful and feeling happy.” She added: “It’s about taking back control and working with people to empower yourself.”

Actor Hugh Jackman has announced that his skin cancer has returned yet again. The X-Men actor posted an image on Instagram with a bandage covering his nose Monday, announcing that the disease he has battled five times before had reemerged. However, he is fine. He wrote: “Another basal cell carcinoma. Thanks to frequent body checks and amazing doctors, all is well. Looks worse with the [bandage] on than off. I swear! #wearsunscreen.” The actor has been treated for skin cancer six times. Jackman, who has described himself as “a good example of making sure you get checkups and listening to your wife”, first underwent treatment for basal cell carcinoma in 2013.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Smokey Robinson (77), Rhianna (29), Sidney Poitier (90), Ellen Page (30), Sophie Turner (21), Drew Barrymore (42), Kyle MacLachlan (58), Aziz Ansari (34), Edward James Olmos (70), Billy Zane (51), Sean Austin (46), Téa Leoni (51), Dakota Fanning (23), Kelly Macdonald (41), Peter Fonda (77), Jeri Ryan (49), Thomas Jane (48), Julie Walters (67), Kelsey Grammer (62), Tyne Daly (71), Anthony Daniels (71), Brenda Blethyn (71), Ivana Trump (68), Benicio Del Toro (50), Jeff Daniels (62), Ray Winstone (60), Molly Ringwald (49), John Travolta (63) and Cybill Shepherd (67).

Next week peeps!

26th February 2017 | Categories: 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 19th February 2017

It’s been a funny old week; although we’ve had no klaxons, quite a few interesting deaths have come to pass, along with half a dozen racehorses that wont be mentioned. No points to awards this week, but plenty to be getting on with.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

Former boxer Michael Watson, the man who first started off The Dead Pool, was hurt in a suspected carjacking attempt last week in London, his friend has said. The 51-year-old, who suffered a near-fatal brain injury in a 1991 fight with Chris Eubank, was in a car with his carer when it was hit from behind. The carer tried to speak to the driver but was sprayed in the face with “some sort of ammonia”, former boxer Spencer Oliver told BBC Radio 5 live. Mr Watson was dragged along the road as a man drove off in his car, he said. Police said both men required hospital treatment, but their injuries were not life-threatening. Mr Oliver, who spoke to both Mr Watson and his carer, Lennard Ballack, after the incident, said the pair were at traffic lights in Chingford, east London, last Thursday when they got into difficulties. After a white Mercedes bumped into them, Mr Ballack got out, intending to tell the driver that no damage had been done, Mr Oliver said. But when he tapped on the car window, the driver leapt out and sprayed him with “some sort of ammonia”, he said. Mr Ballack fell to the ground and tussled with his attacker, while the passenger tried to hijack Mr Watson’s car, he added. Mr Watson got caught up in the seatbelt as he tried to get out. As the car was driven off, he was “hanging out of the door”, said Mr Oliver. The former boxer is now recovering at home from injuries to the skin caused by being dragged along the road. Mr Oliver said the incident had been traumatic and both men were still shaken up. Mr Watson’s 1991 WBO super-middleweight title fight with Mr Eubank left him partially disabled and ended his boxing career. He spent 40 days in a coma and had six brain operations and also made The Dead Pool Master a lot of dirty money!

The actor Harrison Ford has emerged unscathed following another mid-air mishap. Ford, 74, was told to land his single-engine plane on a runway at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, on Monday, but he mistakenly landed it on a parallel taxiway, passing over an American Airlines jet holding nearby, NBC reported. “Was that airliner meant to be underneath me?” Ford is heard asking air traffic controllers in a recording. American Airlines Flight 1456, with 110 passengers and six crew, departed safely for Dallas a few minutes later. Ford’s publicist, Ina Treciokas, declined to comment. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor couldn’t confirm that Ford was piloting the Aviat Husky that overflew the Boeing 737, but he said the pilot received and had read back the proper landing instructions. The FAA is investigating. In March 2015, Ford was seriously injured when his second world war-era trainer crashed on a Los Angeles golf course when it lost power shortly after takeoff. The actor was praised for his ingenuity in avoiding more populated areas. In 1999, Ford crash-landed his helicopter during a training flight in which he and an instructor were practising auto rotations in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles; neither of them was hurt. An in another incident, Ford was flying a Beechcraft Bonanza in 2000 when wind shear forced him to make an emergency landing at Lincoln Municipal Airport in Nebraska. Ford and his passenger were uninjured when the plane clipped the runway.

The Jump has claimed its latest victim. Five-time Olympic champion Sir Bradley Wiggins has quit TV winter sports show The Jump after breaking his leg. The former Tour de France winner said he was “gutted” after sustaining a “small leg fracture” while taking part in snowcross training. Channel 4 said Sir Bradley had been keen to continue but would not appear after the fourth show in the series. Last year, injuries to a number of celebrities prompted a review of safety procedures on the reality show. Sir Bradley, who announced his retirement from cycling in December, tweeted: “Gutted to be leaving The Jump. I wanted to give you an injury update. “Seen a specialist, I have a small leg fracture and need to rest for 3-6 weeks. Good news no surgery or cast required. “Huge thanks to the crew and good luck to all of the cast. Due to the way the show is filmed, I’ll still be on until show four, so tune in. Before his departure, model Vogue Williams left this season of the show after suffering a knee injury in training. Last year’s series of The Jump was dogged by injuries, which resulted in seven celebrities quitting the programme.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Ashton Kutcher (39), Jennifer Aniston (48), Burt Reynolds (81), Jennifer Jason Leigh (55), Cristiano Ronaldo (32), Elizabeth Banks (43), Damien Lewis (46), Chloe Grace Moretz (20), Laura Dern (50), Chris Rock (52), Garth Brooks (55), Sheryl Crow (55), James Spader (57), Mia Farrow (72), Charlotte Rampling (71), Joe Pesci (74), Greg Norman (62), Sarah Palin (53), Christopher Guest (69), Michael Sheen (48), Nick Nolte (76), Seth Green (43), Axel Rose (55), John Grisham (62), Rick Astley (51) and Glenn Beck (53).

Next week peeps!

19th February 2017 | Categories: 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 12th February 2017

Afternoon poolers, today we have a points bonanza with the untimely death of Joost van der    Westhuizen, the following each get 105 points: Martin, Laura, Paul C, Dave, and Lee. However Shan had him as a Cert, so 205 points to her! Also, Sylvia correctly guessed that Tara Palmer-Tomkison would kick the bucket, so a further 105 points awarded! Well done all!!!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

Chas Hodges, one half of music duo Chas & Dave, has cancer of the oesophagus. he 73-year-old will begin treatment “immediately” after the illness was caught “at an early stage”, the band said in a Facebook post. They added: “Chas recently underwent hospital tests which revealed cancer of the oesophagus. Luckily this has been spotted at an early stage and he’ll be undergoing treatment immediately.” The star “expects to be back out on the road with Dave” soon, but the duo have cancelled several dates scheduled across February. Performances at Potters Bar, Norwich and in Milton Keynes on February 17, 18 and 19 “will need to be rescheduled”. “Apologies to ticket-holders for the inconvenience. The venues themselves will advise regarding re-scheduling/refunds,” the statement added. The duo, famous for hits such as Gertcha and Rabbit, formed in the 1970s and are the creators of a musical style dubbed rockney – a mix of rock and cockney.

The Ukip leader, Paul Nuttall, has moved house because of fears for his personal safety, the party has said. Paul Oakden, Ukip’s chairman, said on Saturday that Nuttall’s house in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, where the Ukip leader is standing in the forthcoming byelection, had been targeted after the address was shared on social media. “Since the address of the house Paul Nuttall has been staying at during the Stoke-on-Trent Central campaign was published on social media there have been a series of concerning incidents at or around it,” Oakden said. “The most serious of these was two unknown men attempting to gain access to the house through a rear entrance. There has also been hate mail posted through the letterbox and other intrusive behaviour including trespassing in the private garden of the premises and attempts to take pictures through windows and the letterbox.”

Australian wicketkeeper Sam Harper was taken to hospital overnight after being struck on the head by a bat during a Sheffield Shield match. The Victoria player, 20, needed medical treatment after he was caught by the follow-through of a shot from South Australia batsman Jake Lehmann. Harper, who was wearing a helmet, later had a brain scan in hospital. “Scans have not identified any bleeding or bone damage,” a Cricket Victoria statement read. “However, he will remain in hospital overnight for observation.” In January, Melbourne Renegades wicketkeeper Peter Nevill was ruled out of the Big Bash tournament after he suffered a burst blood vessel when he was hit by a flying bat during his side’s win over Adelaide Strikers. Concussion in cricket, and the use of the bouncer, have been under increased scrutiny since November 2014 when Australia Test batsman Phillip Hughes died after being struck on the top of the neck by a ball while batting for South Australia during a Sheffield Shield game against New South Wales.

And finally, an Egyptian woman, believed to be the world’s heaviest woman at 500kg (78.5 stone), has arrived in Mumbai, India, for weight reduction surgery. The family of 36-year-old Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty said it was the first time she had left home for 25 years. She was flown on a chartered plane to Mumbai where bariatric surgeon Dr Muffazal Lakdawala plans to operate. The Indian embassy in Cairo initially denied her visa request as she was unable to travel there in person. If the claim about her weight is true, then that would make her the world’s heaviest woman alive as the current Guinness record holder is Pauline Potter of the United States who weighed 292kg in 2010. Ms Abd El Aty’s family says she weighed 5kg (11lb) at birth and was diagnosed with elephantiasis, a condition in which a limb or other body parts swell due to a parasitic infection, Dr Lakdawala told the BBC in a phone call from Mumbai. “They said when she was 11, she had gained immense weight because of which she could not stand up and would crawl. “And then she suffered a stroke which left her bedridden and she has not been able to leave home since then.” Dr Lakdawala believes that Ms Abd El Aty does not have elephantiasis, but suffers from obesity-related lymphoedema which causes gigantic swelling of legs. “She would need to remain in Mumbai for two to three months for the surgery and treatment after which she would be able to return home, but it would take two to three years to bring her body weight under 100kg,” the surgeon said.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Ashton Kutcher (39), Jennifer Aniston (48), Burt Reynolds (81), Jennifer Jason Leigh (55), Cristiano Ronaldo (32), Elizabeth Banks (43), Damien Lewis (46), Chloe Grace Moretz (20), Laura Dern (50), Chris Rock (52), Garth Brooks (55), Sheryl Crow (55), James Spader (57), Mia Farrow (72), Charlotte Rampling (71), Joe Pesci (74), Greg Norman (62), Sarah Palin (53), Christopher Guest (69), Michael Sheen (48), Nick Nolte (76), Seth Green (43), Axl Rose (55), John Grisham (62), Rick Astley (51), Bobby Brown (48), Glenn Beck (53) and Vince Neil (56).

Next week peeps!

12th February 2017 | Categories: 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 5th February 2017

Welcome all, another week and a few more deaths! As cruel as this game can be, this is possibly the cruelest announcement I have had to make. Last week I awarded an extra 50 points to many of you for ‘the first death of the season’, unfortunately for you I have had to deduct said points as Laura’s dubious choice of a fairly unknown murderer on Death Row has now been listed on Wiki, which unfortunately for some of you, trumps last weeks deaths. However, it’s not all doom and gloom, Mark scores 83 points for listing John Wetton and Paul G gets awarded 60 points for Desmond Carrington. Don’t you just love the drama!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

Former South Africa captain Joost van der Westhuizen is in a “critical condition” in hospital as he continues to fight motor neurone disease. The 45-year-old, who helped his country win the 1995 World Cup, was diagnosed with the illness in 2011. “The family and friends of Joost ask that you all pray for Joost,” read a statement on his J9 Foundation website. “When we have updates, we will let you know. For now, we ask that we all bow our heads in prayer.” Van der Westhuizen is regarded as one of the finest scrum-halves in rugby history and won 89 caps for the Springboks between 1993 and 2003, scoring 38 tries. He played in his first of three World Cups in 1995 when the Springboks beat New Zealand in the final, and won the Tri-Nations Championship in 1998.

Former US President George HW Bush has been discharged from a Texas hospital after a spell in intensive care as he was treated for pneumonia. “He is thankful for the many prayers and kind wishes he received during his stay,” said his spokesman Jim McGrath. The 92-year-old was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital on 14th January, experiencing breathing difficulties. His wife, Barbara Bush, 91, was briefly admitted to the facility days later to be treated for fatigue and a cough. The nation’s 41st president was moved to intensive care where doctors inserted a breathing tube, which was removed after a couple of days. He was transferred out of the intensive care unit a week ago and has been recovering since then, taking antibiotics. Mr Bush, who served as US president from 1989-93, spent a week in hospital in the US state of Maine in 2015 after falling and breaking a neck bone. He also suffers from a form of Parkinson’s disease and uses a wheelchair.

A prominent Russian opposition activist has been hospitalised with organ failure, two years after he almost died of suspected poisoning. Journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who works for pro-democracy group Open Russia, fell ill at about 05:00 local time. Mr Kara-Murza’s wife told the BBC she was on her way to hospital where her husband is in a medically-induced coma. The activist nearly died when he suffered sudden kidney failure in 2015. “He is already on life support and in a medicated coma. It’s the same clinical picture [as last time],” Evgenia Kara-Murza told the press. The journalist’s wife said he had suffered the same sudden onset of symptoms as in his previous illness. “The ambulance took him directly to the hospital where the same medical team has since been trying to determine what is happening,” she said. “He was brought there conscious but was put in a medicated coma and on life support later, because his organs began shutting down like last time.” No cause was ever established for Mr Kara-Murza’s last illness, but tests confirmed that he had ingested a poisonous substance. Then aged 33, he was in a coma for almost a week and struggled to communicate when he regained consciousness.

And finally, The founder of video game company Bandai Namco, which released cult game Pac-Man, has died at the age of 91, the firm has announced. Masaya Nakamura established Nakamura Manufacturing, which went on to become the Nakamura Amusement Machine Manufacturing Company (Namco) in 1956. He started out installing two electric horses on the roof of a department store in Japan as amusement rides. He was known as the “father” of Pac-Man because it was a Namco release in 1980. The game was developed by Toru Iwatani and in 2016 was named the highest-grossing arcade game of all time by the website US Gamer. Mr Nakamura was an honorary advisor at Bandai Namco until his death on 22nd January. He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, a Japanese government honour, in 2007 and was inducted into the International Video Game Hall of Fame in 2010.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Oprah Winfrey (63), Justin Timberlake (36), Minnie Driver (47), Gene Hackman (87), Christian Bale (43), Heather Graham (47), Harry Styles (23), Morgan Fairchild (67), Tom Select (72), Carol Channing (96), Alice Cooper (69), Isla Fisher (41), Shakira (40), Vanessa Redgrave (80), Lisa Marie Presley (49), Phil Collins (66), Michael C. Hall (46), Natalie Imbruglia (42), Dick Chaney (76), John Lydon (61) and Brett Spiner (68).

Next week peeps!

5th February 2017 | Categories: 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 29th January 2017

Welcome all; seven of you have caused me a little headache this week because you managed to pick celebrities that died on the same day. Search as I might, I couldn’t find a time of day for the deaths of John Hurt and Mary Tyler Moore, so I have awarded the first death of the season points to both celebrities. So, for John Hurt we award Abi, Neil, and Millie 123 points each, and for Mary Tyler Moore, we award Laura, Paul C, Mark and Dave 120 points. Well done all of you!!! We’ve finally kicked off the season!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

A basketball player says he is “doing pretty well, all things considered” after his eye popped out in the middle of a game, New Zealand media report. Akil Mitchell, who plays for the New Zealand Breakers, was in Auckland for an Australian NBL game on Thursday night when the incident happened. The finger of an opposing player accidentally dislodged his eyeball. The American fell to the ground holding his hands to his left eye and was rushed to hospital. “With the palm of my hand I felt my eyeball on the side of my face,” he told New Zealand’s Radio Sport. “I could still see out of the eye.” “I remember thinking oh man… this is kinda bad, but I actually felt it kind of out of place and that’s when I kind of freaked out a little bit.” The 24-year-old said he remembered hearing the crowd and fellow players panicking and thought he would lose his sight and his career was over. “Once I got in the ambulance they gave me a little pain medicine and some saline drops in my eye and I felt it slide back into place, which is also a really strange feeling. “It felt so good to be able to blink again, which is insane.” After being released from hospital on Thursday, he posted on Twitter that he was “seeing fine” and used the eyeballs emoji. The player from North Carolina said he was expected to fully recover and could be playing again soon.

An actor has died after being shot while filming a music video in the Australian city of Brisbane. The man, in his 20s, suffered a chest wound inside the Brooklyn Standard bar in Eagle Lane in the city centre, Queensland police said. The video was for Sydney-based hip hop group Bliss n Eso. The band’s management released a statement to Australian news outlets confirming the death. “The video production crew and our team are currently working with the police in their investigation and we are unable to provide further comment at this time,” the statement said. Members of the film crew had tried to administer CPR on the victim, but the man eventually died from his injuries. Insp Armitt did not say whether the gun was loaded with live ammunition or if blanks were being used. It is also unknown how many shots were fired.

Woe betide us all, atomic scientists reset their symbolic “Doomsday Clock” to its closest time to midnight in 64 years on Thursday, saying the world was closer to catastrophe due to threats such as nuclear weapons, climate change and Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president. The timepiece, devised by the Chicago-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and displayed on its website, is widely viewed as an indicator of the world’s vulnerability to disaster. Its hands were moved to two minutes and 30 seconds to midnight, from three minutes. The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight than it’s ever been in the lifetime of almost everyone in this room,” Lawrence Krauss, the bulletin’s chair, told a news conference in Washington. The clock was last set this close to midnight in 1953, marking the start of the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Thursday’s reset was the first since 2015. Krauss, a theoretical physicist, said Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin carried a large share of the blame for the heightened threat.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Ellen DeGeneres (59), Alan Alda (81), Ariel Winter (19), Elijah Wood (36), Ed Helms (43), Alecia Keys (36), Neil Diamond (76), Mischa Barton (31), Bridget Fonda (53), Eddie Van Halen (62), Linda Blair (58), Piper Laurie (85), Patton Oswalt (48), Alan Cumming (52), Jessica Ennis-Hill (31), Kristen Schaal (39), James Cromwell (77), Jazzy Jeff (52), Nastassja Kinski (56) and Rutger Hauer (73).

Next week peeps!

29th January 2017 | Categories: 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 22nd January 2017

Welcome all, another edition hits the press. Well, what a week! Old Trump is still alive after his inauguration, which is a huge surprise to all of us who thought he’d be assassinated as soon as he stood upon that podium. Fair play to those Secret Service guys, they’re still doing their job, even though they obviously hate the cunt.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

Former US President George HW Bush and his wife Barbara Bush remain in hospital in Houston, Texas, according to a spokesman. The 41st president, who was admitted with pneumonia on Saturday, is still in the intensive care unit, relying on a ventilator to breathe. The 92-year-old had a breathing tube inserted on Wednesday in a procedure to clear his airway. Wife, Barbara, who has had bronchitis, said she was feeling “1,000% better”. Mrs Bush, 91, was admitted on Wednesday suffering from fatigue and a cough. “President Bush had a good night’s rest,” spokesman Jim McGrath said on Thursday. “We are hopeful he will be discharged from the ICU in a few days.” He said the couple had received “an uplifting visit” from longtime friend former Secretary of State James Baker, who lives in Houston. In a letter addressed 10 January, Mr Bush – the oldest living US president – wrote to Mr Trump to excuse himself from attending his inauguration as 45th US president on Friday. Mr Bush wrote that “my doctor says if I sit outside in January, it will likely put me six feet under”. “Same for Barbara. So I guess we’re stuck in Texas,” he wrote, adding that they will be “with you and the country in spirit”.

Chelsea Manning, whose sentence was commuted by the outgoing president, thanked him “for giving me a chance”. The 29-year-old transgender soldier, born Bradley Manning, gave embarrassing documents to Wikileaks in 2010. At President Obama’s final press conference on Wednesday, he declared that “justice has been served”. She will be freed from the Fort Leavenworth military prison in May – 29 years ahead of her scheduled release in 2045. Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan called the decision “outrageous”. “Chelsea Manning’s treachery put American lives at risk and exposed some of our nation’s most sensitive secrets,” Mr Ryan said. We at Dead Pool Towers agree, we listed her as a possible suicide, but now she’s been given hope!

George Michael’s childhood friend Andros Georgiou has linked the singer’s death to drugs. “Hard drugs had been back in his life,” he told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme, adding that crack cocaine was one of Michael’s “favourite drugs”. Mr Georgiou grew up with Michael and the two referred to each other as cousins. He added: “I just think he took too much of something, mixed with antidepressants.” The star died aged 53 on Christmas Day. A post-mortem examination was “inconclusive”, police have said. More tests are being carried out to determine what led to his death, which is not being treated as suspicious. Mr Georgiou said he believed Michael’s death was an accident. “I believe he had suicidal thoughts, because his mental health was all over the place. But I don’t believe this was suicide,” he told the programme. He described crack cocaine as one of Michael’s “favourite drugs”, adding: “I just think he took too much of something, mixed with antidepressants and other drugs he was on – with alcohol. “I think his heart just stopped beating.”

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Betty White (95), Kevin Costner (62), Michelle Obama (53), James Earl Jones (86), Zooey Deschanel (37), Jim Carrey (55), Dolly Parton (71), Bill Maher (61), Kate Moss (43), Katey Segal (63), Rainn Wilson (51), Geena Davis (61), Placido Domingo (76), Buzz Aldrin (87), Jack Nicklaus (77), Billy Ocean (67), Mario Van Peebles (60) and Emma Bunton (41),

And Finally…. 

In 2000, a 19-year-old man in Houston, Texas seemed to get the concept of Russian Roulette confused by using a semi-automatic pistol instead of a revolver.

Instead of putting one bullet in a revolver and pulling the trigger, giving him a one-in-six chance of dying, he put the bullet in a semi-automatic pistol (where the bullets are instantly moved into the gun’s chamber), rising those odds to exactly 100 per cent.

Next week peeps!

22nd January 2017 | Categories: 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 15th January 2017

Afternoon minions, we start with a rather controversial happening. Our current Angel of    Death, Laura, has on her list a nice chap called Christopher Wilkins, he was executed this week in Texas. Unfortunately for Laura, he has not cropped up on the Wiki listing, maybe because he’s not famous or his crimes heinous enough. So as a death, he’s been disallowed. 0 Points. More of a kick in the teeth for Wilkins than Laura I feel. Laura shouldn’t feel bad though, she still guessed the first death, again, just didn’t score, so she is the lass to beat still!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News 

The Queen has made her first public appearance of 2017 after ill-health affected her during the festive season. She attended the morning church service at St Mary Magdalene in Sandringham, Norfolk, on Sunday. There were concerns about the monarch’s health after she missed services on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, which she normally attends with other members of the royal family. Buckingham Palace said she was “recuperating” from a heavy cold. The Queen, dressed in blue, arrived with Prince Philip at about 11:00 GMT in a maroon Bentley. Shortly after, she was joined by other members of the royal family, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as well as the Middleton family. They stayed at the church for an hour, before being driven back to their estate at 12:00 GMT. The last time the Queen was seen in public was at an investiture, during which actor Eddie Redmayne was awarded an OBE, maybe it was all his fault and he’s heading the the Tower of London as we speak.

The actor who played Damien Thorn in the 1970s horror film The Omen punched two cyclists in a road-rage attack and has been given a suspended prison sentence – on Friday the 13th. Harvey Spencer Stephens, 46, lashed out at two riders and damaged one of their cycling helmets after getting out of his car after a dispute. He pleaded guilty to two counts of ABH and one of causing criminal damage following the attack. Maidstone crown court heard that father-of-two Stephens was “red-faced and angry” when he confronted the cyclists, knocking one of them unconscious after driving up behind them. Prosecutor Kieran Brand said Stephens repeatedly used his horn when riders Mark Richardson and Alex Manley, who were out cycling separately, were side-by-side on the road as one overtook the other. Richardson responded by flicking his middle finger at Stephens, who then accelerated heavily before overtaking the pair and pulling over. Brand said Stephens punched Richardson, knocking him unconscious, which prompted Manley to intervene. Stephens responded by asking Manley: “You want some do you?” before punching him twice in the face, causing him to fall on his back with his bicycle still between his legs. Stephens held Manley down and punched him six or seven times, inflicting dental injuries and damaging his helmet. Let this be a warning to all cyclists, the Devil is after you!

A Serbian man is being hailed a miracle survivor after he spent two-and-a-half days stuck down a well in temperatures well below freezing. Jezdimir Milic left home on Friday morning to buy groceries ahead of Orthodox Christmas the next day, but failed to come home. He was found some 52 hours later, on Sunday afternoon, trapped down a well while temperatures reached -20C (-4F). Mr Milic was discovered by neighbour Goran Markovic, who says Mr Milic’s poor sight probably explains how he did  not see the five-metre-deep (16-foot) well and fell into it. Mr Markovic said he discovered Mr Milic when he noticed a bag of groceries sitting by the well, in a wooded area close to their village of Smoljinac. “Attracted by the unusual sight, I walked over to the bag in which there was a bottle of red wine, a few bottles of beer and some corn flour,” Mr Markovic told news organisation RTS. “At that moment I remembered that there was talk in the village about a disappeared person named Jezdimir. Then I heard some cries and looked into the well and I saw, at the bottom, someone sitting with their hands and feet close to their chest.” He then notified a local vet, who summoned police. The fire service eventually got Mr Milic out. As well as hypothermia, he is being treated for bruises and abrasions consistent with a fall from height.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Zayn Malik (24), Jason Bateman (48), Liam Hemsworth (27), Kate Middleton (35), Faye Dunaway (76), Howard Stern (63), Rod Stewart (72), Kirsty Alley (66), George Foreman (68), Amanda Peet (46), Mary J. Blige (46), Rush Limbaugh (66), Pat Benatar (64), Joely Richardson (52), Evan Handler (56), Mel C. (43), Pixie Lott (26), Carl Weathers (69) and Shirley Bassey (80).

And Finally…

This took the top Darwin Award in 1994. A Polish farmer, Krystof Azninski, who “staked a strong claim to being Europe’s most macho man by cutting off his own head.” Azninski and his friends, in an inebriated state, decided it was good idea to  engage in a little competition of who was the most masculine. It is strange how these things escalate. First, they striped off naked. Second, they hit each other with frozen turnips. But things turned decidedly bizarre -and deadly when one of them cut off his own foot with a chainsaw. Azninski decided to top this by literally sawing off his own head! One of the men was quoted as saying: “It’s funny, because when he was young he put on his sister’s underwear. But he died like a man.”

Next week peeps!

15th January 2017 | Categories: 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 8th January 2017

Welcome all, as of yet, not a lot has happened in our quest to score points off celebrity deaths. But fear not, as sure as the sun rises each day, someone will surely peg it soon enough.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

It is one of the perks of being a member of the archaic hereditary UK monarchy that you have armed guards watching over you at all hours. But that apparently almost backfired for the Queen when she decided to take a late-night walk around the palace grounds and came close to being shot. From time to time her majesty is said to struggle to sleep. During a spell of insomnia, the 90-year-old will occasionally put on her coat and go for a short stroll, an ex-guardsman said. In what could have been a points bonanza, he said he was patrolling inside the perimeter of the Palace walls when he spotted a figure in the darkness. Thinking that he had caught a potentially dangerous intruder, sneaking into the Royal residence at 3am, he shouted: “Who’s that?” But to his surprise, it was actually the Queen. “Bloody hell, Your Majesty, I nearly shot you,” he is reported to have said, on impulse. Perhaps realising this wasn’t the tone to be used when addressing the Queen, he expected a telling off. But the Queen reportedly took responsibility for putting him in such an awkward position. “That’s quite all right,” she replied. “Next time I’ll ring through beforehand so you don’t have to shoot me.” It is believed the encounter happened at the Queen’s normal weekday residence, Buckingham Palace.

And as we’re on the subject of shooting, David Blaine thought he had died when his attempt to fire a rifle and catch the bullet in his mouth went wrong. The magician, 43, performed the stunt at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and it aired on his E4 show Beyond Magic last night. It involved him holding a metal cup between his teeth, which were protected by a gumshield, and pulling a cord to set off the rifle in front of him. The .22-caliber bullet fired into the cup as planned but his gumshield shattered on impact and the cup slammed into the back of his throat. As the action played out, Blaine narrated: ‘Time just started to move really slow. ‘When the bullet struck the cup, there was a high-pitched ringing in my ears and I felt an impact on the back of my throat. ‘I was sure the bullet went right through my head and that I was dead. ‘Suddenly I became aware of the pain and it brought me back. At that moment I realised that the mouth guard had shattered again, and I was alive.’ Blaine’s friends have now refused to help him perform the stunt, which he has performed three times since 2010, but he still wants to include it in his upcoming world tour so there’s hope for some of us to score some points!

Cult leader Charles Manson was back in a central California prison on Saturday after a reported hospital stay for an unspecified medical problem. Manson, 82, was at California state prison, Corcoran, said Jeffrey Callison, a spokesman for the state department of corrections and rehabilitation. “We never stated he was anywhere else,” Callison said in an email. “Medical privacy laws do not allow [the department] to discuss inmates’ medical issues, if any.” The department has declined to comment on reports from TMZ and the Los Angeles Times that earlier in the week Manson was taken to a hospital in Bakersfield, 60 miles south of the prison. While the prison has medical facilities, California prisoners generally are sent to outside hospitals if they need “surgical services, emergency care, or diagnostic services of an acute nature”, Joyce Hayhoe, a spokeswoman for the federal receiver who controls prison medical care, said on Tuesday. Manson is serving a life sentence for orchestrating the 1969 murders of the actor Sharon Tate, who was pregnant, and six others in southern California.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Bradley Cooper (42), Diane Keaton (71), Robert Duvall (86), Mel Gibson (61), Cuba Gooding Jr. (49), Frank Langella (79), Marilyn Manson (48), Jeremy Renner (46), Nicholas Cage (53), Julia Ormond (52), Tia Carrere (50), Michael Stipe (57), Rowan Atkinson (62), Kenny Loggins (69), Danny Coleman (85), Verne Troyer (48), Vinnie Jones (52) and Lewis Hamilton (32).

Next week peeps!

8th January 2017 | Categories: 2014 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 1st January 2017

Welcome all, let’s start off the last Newsletter of the year by handing out the final points. Millie gets 54 points for Richard Adams. Toby and Laura get 55 for Liz Smith whist I myself finally score with her as my Woman for 155. Unbelievably, Alex & Eliza had Carrie Fisher down as their Woman, 190 points! How did they know???

So, as you will see from the leader board, I can now officially declare that Laura has won the title of Angel of Death 2016! A whopping 654 points, which is an all time record for us here at TheDeadPool.rip

I’d like to also add a huge thank you for everyone who has taken part in 2016 and also for the generous donations we’ve received. We have more than covered the running costs so there will be a prize for 2017, either a cash pot or a deadly gift, all depends if something suitable crops up during the year. Let me wish you all good luck for 2017 and keep those Klaxxons coming, you’re usually quicker that TMZ!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News 

The Queen may miss the annual New Year’s Day church service at Sandringham after Buckingham Palace said the 90-year-old could still be too unwell to attend. A spokeswoman said: “The Queen is continuing to recover from her heavy cold and is still in the residence of Sandringham. We probably will not know what is happening until the morning.” The monarch has not been seen in public for 11 days since she and Prince Philip caught heavy colds, forcing them to cancel the traditional train journey to their north Norfolk estate for Christmas. Instead, the royal couple were flown directly from the palace by helicopter, with the Queen missing the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene church for the first time in 28 years. Philip, 95, was well enough to go to the 25th December service with Prince Charles, Prince Harry and other family members before reportedly joining the traditional Boxing Day pheasant shoot. This comes after a tweet from a fake BBC News account claimed that The Queen had died; the palace was forced to issue a statement confirming she was still alive but a 24 hour media blackout before the New Years Honours List and her stepping down from being a patron to 25 high profile charities only exacerbated the rumours.

Talking about tweets, Sony Music has said sorry to pop star Britney Spears, after an official Twitter account suggested the pop star had died. The entertainment firm quickly removed the hoax tweets, saying its global account had been “compromised” but that the situation had “been rectified”. Sony added it “apologises to Britney Spears and her fans for any confusion”. The 35-year-old did not react directly to the tweet, but her manager confirmed the singer was “fine and well”. As well Sony’s Twitter account, the official account of Bob Dylan also appears to have been hacked. It tweeted: “Rest in peace @britneyspears” around the time of the fake Sony tweets. After the tweets were published, a group called OurMine appears to have gained access to the Sony Music account and pointed out the security breach. It is not clear whether it was also responsible for the original false messages.

Former football star Paul Gascoigne was taken to hospital after an alcohol-fuelled fight at a hotel, it has been reported. Mr Gascoigne, 49, was “racially abusing” customers at the Ace Hotel in Shoreditch, east London, and throwing money at them, according to a witness. The Metropolitan Police said officers were called to a disturbance at the hotel shortly after 6pm on Tuesday before a 49-year-old man was taken to hospital with a head injury. Witness Alvin Carpio said the former England and Newcastle United striker, who has long-battled alcoholism, appeared “very drunk” during the altercation. He tweeted: “Gazza has just been kicked down the stairs by a guy whose friend got slapped by him. He really isn’t in a good place. “It’s a sad state: He’s been spitting, making racist remarks & groping women, all while throwing around £ notes. “He was racially abusing my mates, and hitting one of them on the shoulder and head before throwing a £20 note on him.” Mr Gascoigne’s spokesman, Terry Baker, said the troubled star had been taken to hospital with a head wound. Mr Baker added: “He hasn’t been arrested. He’s about to be released and sent home.” Mr Gascoigne was fined £1,000 at Dudley Magistrates’ Court in September after racially abusing a bodyguard who was employed to protect him. Twat….

Ex-world champion Ricky Hatton says he tried to kill himself on several occasions in a battle with depression. The Briton also talked about the need for boxers to get more help after retiring, when he appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Today show. “I tried to kill myself several times,” said Hatton, 38, who retired in 2012. “I used to go to the pub, come back, take the knife out and sit there in the dark crying hysterically.” Hatton, who previously spoke to the BBC in 2011 about attempted suicide and depression, won the world light-welterweight and welterweight titles. He was stripped of his licence to box in 2010 after admitting using cocaine and retired the next year before fighting once more. He is now a promoter and trainer. He continued: “There were times when I hadn’t had a drink for days and I’d still come home and if something went through my mind I’d start pondering something. It was the same outcome whether I was having a drink or wasn’t having a drink. “But in the end I thought I’ll end up drinking myself to death because I was so miserable. “I was coming off the rails with my drinking and that led to drugs. It was like a runaway train.”  Hatton feels “more should be done for boxers” with depression, with ex-world champions Tyson Fury and Frank Bruno among other Britons to have suffered with the illness.

A post-mortem examination into the cause of George Michael’s death was “inconclusive” police have said. The star died aged 53 on Christmas Day at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. More tests will now be carried out to determine what led to his death, Thames Valley Police said in a statement. The results of these tests are unlikely to be known for several weeks. Michael’s death is still being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. South Central Ambulance Service were called to Michael’s property at 13:42 GMT on 25th December and the singer was confirmed dead at the scene. Thames Valley Police also attended. Michael’s partner Fadi Fawaz said he had found the singer lying “peacefully in bed”. He told the media: “I went round there to wake him up and he was just gone. We don’t know what happened yet.” Michael’s manager, Michael Lippman, said the singer had died of heart failure. Michael, who was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in north London, sold more than 100 million albums throughout a career spanning almost four decades. Charities and individuals lined up to pay tribute to George following his death and also reveal stories of generosity. A close friend predicted that he will have donated some or all of his future song royalties to charity. He said: “If he did something like this it means the good causes would receive a yearly boost from George even after his death. It is just the kind of thing he would do because he was so generous.” Sad loss…

The family of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher are reportedly planning a joint memorial service. The Singin’ In The Rain star, 84, died from a suspected stroke on Wednesday, while grieving for her daughter Fisher, who died just a day earlier. Fisher, 60, best known for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars series, died after suffering a heart attack on a flight from London to Los Angeles. Reynolds’ son said: “It’s what we want to do, but we’re still working on the mechanics. “We like the idea, if it’s at all possible. I think it’s appropriate.” Mr Fisher announced his mother’s death on Wednesday, revealing that her last words were: ‘I want to be with Carrie”. He confirmed to US network ABC News that there is currently no date or location for the mother-daughter funeral, but plans are in process.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Jared Leto (45), Maggie Smith (82), Denzel Washington (62), Ellie Goulding (30), LeBron James (32), Tiger Woods (41), Annie Lennox (62), Anthony Hopkins (79), Sissy Spacek (67),  Ben Kingsley (73), Sienna Miller (35), Jon Voight (78), Ted Danson (69), Eliza Dushku (36), Jude Law (44), Marianne Faithfull (70), Val Kilmer (57), John Amos (77), Mary Tyler Moore  (80), Shane MacGowan (59), Patti Smith (70), Gerard Depardieu (68), Tracy Ullman (57), Lars Ulrich (53), Helena Christensen (48), Stan Lee (94), Noomi Rapace (37), Michael Nesmith (74), Masi Oka (42), Danny McBride (40) and Jay Kay (47).

Next week peeps!

1st January 2017 | Categories: 2016, 2017 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 2016 Review

2016 is over and we now have a winner! Congratulations to Laura, she scored a whopping 654 points and wins the coveted title of Angel of Death 2016! A small prize will be winging its way to you once it arrives from Satan, or the extremely talented Sarai as we know her!!

So, let’s have a look at 2016; it does seem that there have been a lot of celebrity deaths, but when you look back to 2015, there were just as many notable demises and just as many recognisable faces, although this last week in December was a tad brutal.

2017 might see as many again, as what seems to be the culprit is that it’s much easier to become a celebrity nowadays.

So lets have a look at some of the celebrities we lost during 2016…

The Dead Pool Review of the Year   

January

Abe Vigoda, Cecil Parkinson, Terry Wogan, Glen Frey, Sheila Sim, David Bowie, David Margulies, Alan Rickman, Dan Haggerty, Omis Clay, Ed Stewart, Lemmy, Natalie Cole, Wayne Rogers.

February

Frank Kelly, Tony Burton, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Harper Lee, Umberto Eco, George Gaynes, Margaret Forster, Maurice White.

March   

Rob Ford, Johan Cruyff, Garry Shandling, Sylvia Anderson, Nancy Reagan, Paul Daniels, George Martin, Keith Emerson, George Kennedy.

April

Victoria Wood, Prince, Howard Marks, David Gest, Gareth Thomas, Amber Rayne, Erik Bauersfeld, Patty Duke, Ronnie Corbett.

May

Burt Kwouk, Susannah Mushatt Jones, Jonathan Cainer, Barry Howard.

June

Anton Yeltsin, Jo Cox, Harambe, Carla Lane, Muhammad Ali, Dave Swarbrick.

July, August & September

J.T. McNamara, Jerry Doyle, Vivian Gray, John Pigeon, John McMartin, Gladys Hooper, Caroline Ahern, Michael Cimino.

Joao Havelange, Padraig Duggan, Gerald Grosvenor – The Duke of Westminster, Kenny Baker, Barry  Jenner, David Huddleston.

Bill Nunn, Alexis Arquette, Prince Buster, Gene Wilder.

October

Pete Burns, Bobby Vee, Raine Spencer, Jean Alexander, Bhumibol Adulyadej, Jean Shepard, Shimon Peres, Ann Emery.

November

Florence Henderson, Fidel Castro, Ron Glass, David Hamilton, Leon Russell, Leonard Cohen, Jimmy Young, Robert Vaughn, Curly Putman, John Carson.

December

Zsa Zsa Gabor, Rick Parfitt, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Ian McCaskill, Michael Nicholson, Henry Heimlich, Peter Vaughan, Greg Lake, John Glenn, A.A. Gill, Andrew Sachs, Margaret Rhodes, George Michael, Liz Smith, Richard Adams.

1st January 2017 | Categories: 2016 | Leave A Comment »

Dead pool 25th December 2016

Welcome to the penultimate edition of The Dead Pool Newsletter 2016! We have points to award, Zsa Zsa has finally been released from her long wait. It would probably be easier for me to list who didn’t have her, but since 19 people had her listed let’s just say well done to all of you, either 51 or 151 points awarded for those who did, just check the leader board to see the change in scores but no real change in positions.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank myself for producing this weekly monstrosity, even on Christmas Day! and if you feel the same, please donate towards the running costs on the website, everything is very much appreciated. As you will see, some very generous people have already set the ball in motion but please don’t feel like you have to, I know we all struggle at this time of year.

All that is left for me to say is, keep working on those lists for 2017, you have until 31st December to hand them in and I hope you all survive the Christmas overindulgence so that you can take part next year. As you will see from this week’s league table, you might want to think a little longer on who you decide your Big Three will be. All of the top scorers have had at least two of their biggies drop, so make sure to take this advantage yourselves in 2017!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News 

Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the Star Wars films, is in intensive care after suffering a heart attack during a flight, her brother says. Fisher, 60, went into cardiac arrest minutes before the end of the London to LA flight. Passengers attempted to revive her with CPR and she was taken to hospital when the plane landed after midday local time. “If everyone could just pray for her that would be good,” her brother Todd said. “The doctors are doing their thing and we don’t want to bug them. We are waiting by patiently.” Fisher had been on tour promoting her latest book, The Princess Diarist. The heart attack happened about 15 minutes before the plane landed in LA, a medic who was travelling on the plane administered CPR. Paramedics then spent a further 15 minutes administering more CPR to Fisher before getting a pulse, TMZ reported. The actress was on a ventilator in the UCLA medical centre. A law enforcement official told NBC that her condition was “not good”.

The Queen missed the traditional Christmas day church service at Sandringham for the first time in almost 30 years as she continues to fight a heavy cold, Buckingham Palace said. The 90-year-old monarch has attended the annual service ever since the Royal family began visiting Sandringham in 1988. Before then, the family stayed at Windsor for Christmas. This morning, Prince Charles, The Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Harry, the Earl of Wessex and Prince Andrew were seen making their way from Sandringham House to the service. Hundreds of no-lifers had gathered outside the church, with some assholes arriving before dawn. The Queen and Prince Philip, 95, were stuck down with colds earlier this week and had to delay the departure of their holiday by 24 hours. Buckingham Palace revealed on Wednesday the royal couple had both come down with “ heavy colds”, leading to the last minute postponement of their annual trip. While the Queen usually takes the train every year to her Norfolk estate, the pair made the 100-mile journey by helicopter, with Royal aides suggesting that it had turned out to be the most practical method of travelling at short notice.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has been injured by a knife-wielding attacker, believed to be a burglar, at her home in the Czech Republic. Kvitova, 26, was stabbed in the left hand when she tried to defend herself but her injuries are not life-threatening. She tweeted: ‘In my attempt to defend myself, I was badly injured on my left hand. I am shaken, but fortunate to be alive.’  Kvitova was attacked this morning in the town of Prostejov in the east of the country, which is home to a national tennis academy. Prostejov police spokesman Frantisek Korinek said the attacker, who was aged about 35, escaped from the house and a manhunt is under way.  Kvitova tweeted: ‘The injury is severe and I will need to see specialists, but if you know anything about me I am strong and I will fight this. Thank you all again for your love and support.’

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Brad Pitt (53), Katie Holmes (38), Jake Gyllenhall (36), Alyssa Milano (44), Kiefer Sutherland (50),  Jane Fonda (79), Samuel L. Jackson (68), Ralph Fiennes (54), Eddie Vedder (52), Ricky Martin (45), Vanessa Paradis (44), Steven Spielberg (70), Christina Aguilera (36), Keith Richards (73), Ray Liotta (62), Johan Hill (33), Stephanie Meyer (43), Steve Austin (52), Jennifer Beals (53), Phil Donahue (81), Chris Evert (62), Carla Bruni (49), and Kirsty Swanson (47).

Next week peeps!

25th December 2016 | Categories: 2016 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 18th December 2016

Welcome all, another edition hits the stands. Congratulations to Millie, the only one to guess that Henry Heimlich would pass away this year. Luckily she listed him as a Cert, thus garnering a total of 154 points! Woo!

Now, we only have two weeks left to go, I hope you are all working hard on your lists. Also, remind your friends and get them in on the game as well. The rules are here, if you want to link them and also point them towards the donations page 😉

Onto email Klaxxons, I’d like to know what you think of them. Some people love them, others despise them. I have had a few people drop out of the email list because of them, but some of you, perhaps like me, do rather enjoy having the interaction within our group and a reminder of who’s died. Sometimes it seems the email arrives before the media get hold of the news!! Depending on your reaction, Klaxxons may be consigned to The Hole™

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

Bruce Springsteen’s wife helps him pull “back into his life” when he is gripped by depression. The 67-year-old musician revealed earlier this year he was “crushed” by the disease in his early 60s, and says his spouse Patti Scialfa helps him see how “blessed” his life is when he is experiencing one of his dark periods. He said: “Patti’s very helpful, and sometimes just time. Or sometimes the correct medication, you need the right drugs. That can really help also. “These are all things that can pull you back into your life and certainly in my case how blessed my life has been. “I have developed some skills that help me deal with it but still, it is a powerful, powerful thing, it really comes up and there are things that still remain unexplainable to me.” Let’s hope that she goes on a long vacation…

Larry Lamb finds ageing “frightening at times”. The 69-year-old actor says everything changed for him when he turned 65 and admits it was then he realised that the “clock had started ticking”. He said: “You suddenly realise that you’re not immortal anymore. One minute you’re mortal and then you suddenly realise that you’re not. The clock starts ticking, you get your pension and you know you’re heading towards the end. “You never used to know where you were heading in life and then it all changes, You begin to feel like an old man and it’s frightening at times.”

Tony Bennett has decided he’ll never retire from making music because “it’s too late” to give up. The 90-year-old music legend has decided it would be pointless to end his career despite being only 10 years off 100 as there is still so much more he wants to achieve. Talking about reaching the ripe age of 90, he previously said: “I turn 90 tomorrow and feel like I’m just getting started and look forward to each day.” So do we Tony, so do we.

Lionel Blair has “always” lied about his age for many years, but has finally revealed he is three years older than he had previously let on. The British actor has admitted he has been pretending to be three years younger than he actually is for his entire life, but has finally decided to come clean about how old he is whilst celebrating his 88th birthday this week. However, the veteran performer has revealed despite telling a little white lie about his age, his hair is real and all his own. Lionel has revealed he would like nothing more than to follow in the footsteps of fellow actor Kirk Douglas, who hit a major milestone of 100 years old last week. And the star has hinted his hectic lifestyle and heavy work schedule is the secret to keeping him feeling young and, although he he hasn’t been offered many acting roles lately, he believes he will be inundated with work commitments in the New Year.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Taylor Swift (27), Jamie Foxx (49), Eugene Levy (70), John Kerry (73), Christopher Plummer (87), Steve Buscemi (59), Dick Van Dyke (91), Vanessa Hudgens (28), Don Johnson (67), Jennifer Connelly (46), Bill Pullman (63), Milla Jovovich (41), Pope Francis (80), Ernie Hudson (71), Billy Gibbons (67), Dionne Warwick (76) and Laurie Holden (47).

Next week peeps!

18th December 2016 | Categories: 2016 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 11th December 2016

Welcome all, a short and sweet edition hits the press! No points to be awarded this week but if things     were slightly different, one of next years contestants would have close to 300 points already!!!! So this should show you how hard you should be trying to make sure your list hits the top spot next year!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News 

One of Jared Leto’s L.A. homes was the scene of a panic Friday evening that had firefighters searching the grounds. LAFD says it got a call to the residence in Laurel Canyon because someone smelled smoke. We’re told everyone inside the house had been evacuated by the time firefighters arrived and started going through the 50,000 sq. ft complex. Good news for Jared — who was home at the time, we’re told — firefighters found nothing burning. No fire. No damage. No messy insurance claims. No deaths. Win-win-win-boo.

Batman star Val Kilmer has been seen struggling to speak with a severely swollen tongue – after denying he has cancer. Last month, Val clarified rumours around his health, but now the actor shocked an audience in LA on Thursday night when he had  trouble speaking. The 56 year old took to the stage to explain that his tongue and swollen and he was still recovering. He didn’t explain what caused the swelling and dabbed saliva from his mouth while he joked with the audience. The actor explained that he’s had to cancel his tour of his one-man play version of Twain. Earlier this month, Michael Douglas — who beat stage 4 oral cancer in 2013 — was speaking at a Q&A in London when he talked about Val battling oral cancer. “Things don’t look too good for him,” the 72 year old said.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Jay Z (47), Marisa Tomei (54), Judd Apatow (49), Nicki Minaj (34), John Malkovich (63), Judi Dench (82), Tyra Banks (43), Jeff Bridges (67), Kim Basinger (63), Kirk Douglas (100), Ann Coulter (55), Teri Hatcher (52), Dominic Monaghan (40), Kenneth Branagh (56), Beau Bridges (75), Sinead O’Connor (50), Donny Osmond (59), Margaret Cho (48), Little Richard (84), Frankie Muniz (31) and Nicole Appleton (42).

Next week peeps!

11th December 2016 | Categories: 2016 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 4th December 2016

dead-pool-background

Welcome all to the first Dead Pool Newsletter of December!!! As per usual, I do a bit of housekeeping and go through each of your lists with a fine tooth-comb and award points for all those dead people I missed throughout the year. I thought I’d been rather good at not missing anyone, however, I was very wrong! But before we get onto that, lets congratulate Julia for getting Margaret Rhodes for 59 points!

  • Apologies to Julie and Martin, both guessed that TV Presenter Cliff Michelmore would die this year, 56 points each.
  • Apologies also go to Alex & Eliza, the musician Scotty Moore died back in June, another 66 points awarded!
  • Apologies to Laura, actress Lupita Tovar died in November at the age of 106, but she also listed her as her Woman, so 144 points!
  • Apologies to Wombat, who correctly guessed cinematographer Douglas Slocombe who died at the age of 103 back in February.
  • Apologies to Luke, chemist Adam Bielañski died in September at the age of 103.

Points awarded all round!! So, that changed a few positions on the league table with only four weeks to go!!!  I hope I don’t need to remind you that you should be working on your list for 2017!!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

BuzzBuzz Aldrin, the second man on the Moon, has been evacuated from the South Pole after falling ill. The 86-year-old former astronaut was visiting Antarctica in a tourist group and was evacuated to New Zealand. He has fluid in his lungs but is responding well to treatment, a statement on his website said. He is being kept overnight for observation. Mr Aldrin’s manager Christina Korp, who accompanied him, said he was in good spirits. She described the last 24 hours as “gruelling”, posting a picture on Twitter of Mr Aldrin giving the thumbs up while being lifted on a stretcher.

Barry BennellEx-youth football coach Barry Bennell, who is at the centre of a sex abuse scandal, has been taken to hospital after being found unconscious. The convicted sex offender was found at an address in Knebworth Park, Stevenage on Friday, Thames Valley Police said. The force said it was called to a “fear for welfare” incident and the 62-year-old was still in hospital. Bennell was named last week by several former footballers who alleged they were abused as children. Five police forces are now investigating claims of historical abuse. Bennell, who also worked for Manchester City, Stoke and junior teams in north-west England and the Midlands, was given a four-year sentence for raping a British boy on a football tour of Florida in 1994 and a nine-year sentence in 1998 for 23 offences against six boys in England. He was jailed for a third time in 2015 after admitting abusing a boy at a 1980 football camp in Macclesfield. Bennell was said to have moved out of his home in Milton Keynes when the new allegations came to light.

kanye-westKanye West is reportedly back at home more than a week after he was admitted to hospital with exhaustion. According to multiple reports in the US, the rapper left UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles with wife Kim Kardashian and his doctor, Michael Farzam. The 39-year-old was admitted to hospital last Monday suffering from “temporary psychosis due to sleep deprivation and dehydration”. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) responded to a report of a disturbance last week but later said it was a “medical emergency”. The rapper was admitted to hospital a day after he cancelled his Saint Pablo tour after a series of rants on-stage.

MoranoAnd finally, Emma Morano, who just turned 117 years old, says she doesn’t want to celebrate her birthday, but people came from all over the world to see her anyway. When she was born, Umberto I was still reigning over Italy, Fiat had only just been established and Milan Football Club was still a few weeks off creation. Looking back on a life which has not only spanned three centuries but also survived an abusive marriage which started with blackmail, the loss of her only son and a diet which most would describe as anything but balanced. Ms Morano, the oldest of eight siblings, all of whom she has outlived, was born on 29th November 1899 in the Piedmont region of Italy. This year, she officially became the world’s oldest living woman after American Susannah Mushatt Jones died in May. She is also officially the last person still living born in the 1800s. Ms Morano’s longevity, she admits, is partly down to genetics – her mother reached 91 and several sisters reached their centenary – and partly, she says, down to a rather unusual diet of three eggs – two raw – each day for more than 90 years. It was a regime she took up as a young woman, after the doctor diagnosed her with anaemia shortly after World War One. These days, she has cut down to just two eggs a day, and a few biscuits. Let’s all wish her a very happy birthday!

On This Day

  • 1791 – The first edition of The Observer, the world’s first Sunday newspaper, is published.
  • 1872 – The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the Canadian brig Dei Gratia. The ship had been abandoned for nine days but was only slightly damaged.
  • 1954 – The first Burger King is opened in Miami.

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Ben Stiller (51), Woody Allen (81), Ozzy Osbourne (68), Julianne Moore (56), Don Cheadle (52), Britney Spears (35), Jon Stewart (54), Bette Midler (71), Ed Harris (66), Randy Newman (73), Joel Cohen (62), Lucy Liu (48), Billy Idol (61), Mandy Patinkin (64), Amanda Seyfried (31), Ridley Scott (79), Nelly Furtado (38), Brendan Fraser (48), Bill Nye (61), Judd Nelson (57), Diane Ladd (84), Tom Sizemore (55) and Daryl Hannah (56).

Next week peeps!

4th December 2016 | Categories: 2016 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 27th November 2016

dead-pool-backgroundWelcome to a busy week for the Dead Pool! A stalwart name on many a list has finally    passed away, Fidel Castro died at the age of 90. This gives 60 points to Lee, Laura, Mark, Dave, Wendy, Sarai, Stu, Millie and Paula. Strangely enough, nobody had him down as a Cert. This has changed the league table somewhat, we have a new points leader and with just over a month to play, it’s very close at the top.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

kanyeUS rapper Kanye West has been taken to hospital following an emergency services call. A police spokesperson said they had received a “disturbance call” on Monday afternoon, but did not name the singer. The disturbance was later deemed a medical incident, he said, and the fire department responded. A spokesman for the LA Fire Department said an unnamed man had been taken to hospital for “further assessment”. Further details of the incident naming West varied in conflicting reports from multiple news sources. NBC News said officers had been responding to a “medical welfare call” and the decision to hospitalise West was for his own health and safety, citing “multiple authorities familiar with the case”. Gossip website TMZ said that West was taken to hospital for “psychiatric evaluation” and had been seeking treatment for “severe sleep deprivation”. Before news broke of West’s hospital treatment, Kardashian West’s mother, Kris Jenner, spoke to US media about the rapper’s reasons for cancelling his shows. “He’s exhausted, he’s just really tired. He’s had a gruelling tour and it’s been a grind so he just needs some rest,” she told US TV show Extra. The rapper had cancelled all remaining dates on his current tour after abandoning a Sacramento performance at the weekend. He had performed just three songs on Saturday night, before embarking on an unscripted rant, criticising Facebook, Jay Z and Hillary Clinton. He criticised Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg for failing to give him $53m (£42.5m) to get out of debt and said he was hurt that Jay Z failed to visit his family after last month’s robbery. West then appeared to suggest that Jay Z employed hit men, saying: “Jay Z, I know you got killers, please don’t send them at my head.” “Get ready to have a field day, press, because the show’s over,” he said, as he dropped his microphone and walked out. His promoter, Live Nation, has announced refunds for all tickets from the show.

blackwellThe former British middleweight champion Nick Blackwell was in a “stable condition” in hospital last night after he was taken ill having reportedly been involved in a sparring session. Blackwell had retired from competitive boxing after recovering from being put into an induced coma following March’s fight against Chris Eubank Jnr, where he collapsed shortly after being stopped. The 26-year-old from Trowbridge was found to have suffered a bleed on the skull following that fight, but woke without requiring an operation and made encouraging progress. Although Blackwell had his boxer’s licence removed by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) after his ordeal, he retained a trainer’s licence. The BBBofC general secretary, Robert Smith, confirmed on Saturday evening that Blackwell was in hospital. “We are investigating this matter and it will be fully looked into, but it is very early days. We understand that Blackwell was sparring some time this week and he has undergone a procedure. We don’t know exactly what the procedure was yet. We have spoken to a number of people about this and we will be putting the full facts together.”

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Miley Cyrus (24), Mark Ruffalo (49), Goldie Hawn (71), Joe Binden (74), Scarlett Johansson (32), Jamie Lee Curtis (58), Christian Applegate (45), Tina Turner (77), Sarah Hyland (26), Bo Derek (60), John Larroquette (68), Rita Ora (26), Bjork (51), Boris Becker (49), Carly Rae Jepsen (31),  Terry Gilliam (76), Billy Jean King (73), Natasha Bedingfield (35), Peter Facinelli (43) and Ming-Na Wen (53).

Next week peeps!

27th November 2016 | Categories: 2016 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 20th November 2016

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Afternoon all, welcome to spot the dead celebrity week. Maybe I’m being a little cruel and uneducated, but fuck me, who are these people? Six more weeks to go and all to pay for.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News 

GillRestaurant critic AA Gill has revealed he has been diagnosed with the “full English” of cancers. The illness prompted his engagement to his partner of 23 years, Nicola Formby, with whom he has two children. Doctors found he had cancer, which has spread from his lungs to other parts of his body, after he went for an X-ray when people noticed he had lost weight. Gill, 62, who is having chemotherapy, said he does not “feel cheated” and has been “very lucky” in his life. The columnist, who is restaurant and TV critic for the Sunday Times, told the paper: “I’ve got an embarrassment of cancer, the full English. “There is barely a morsel of offal not included. I have a trucker’s gut-buster, gimpy, malevolent, meaty malignancy.” Doctors found he had a smoking-related cancer which had spread from his lungs – despite him giving up smoking 15 years ago. The illness has meant he is unable to ride a bike because one tumour affects his balance and he has been banned from flying because he cannot risk infections. Gill told readers of his column he was revealing his diagnosis because chemotherapy can alter the way things taste, adding: “If ever things start tasting like licked battery terminals, I’ll tell you.” Gill said he had visited a private doctor and paid for his own X-rays, but wanted to go back into the NHS because of the “connection it brings”. He told the newspaper: “My father would say he didn’t want to die in the trench, and I don’t want to die in a trench in Harley Street.”

TaraTara Palmer-Tomkinson has told how she feared she was going to die when doctors revealed she had a brain tumour. The 44-year-old former “It girl” has received treatment for the non-malignant growth in her pituitary gland since January and said it had now cleared. She told the media: “I went to the doctors to talk about my latest blood test results when I got back from skiing in January. I said: ‘What does this mean? Can you translate it?’ And the doctor said: ‘As I suspected, you have a brain tumour’.” “I got terribly frightened. I started thinking, ‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die. I’ve only got a couple of weeks to live.’ Stuff like that.” Palmer-Tomkinson, who has battled drug problems in the past, also said the blood tests found she was suffering with an auto-immune disease which had caused tiredness, joint pain and acute anaemia. So nothing to do with cocaine then..

diggerAn 89-year-old Canadian has made headlines for digging his own grave. “I love digging,” Jimmy Kickham, from Prince Edward Island, told CBC News, saying he feels pride in his personal project. Mr Kickham, who owns a construction business, has been digging graves and trenches for more than 60 years. “One day I just thought I’d do my own if I lived to be 90,” Mr Kichkam explained. He is in good health but turns 90 on Thursday. “I love digging. Just one of those things that gets into your system. It’s just work. Money. No matter what they wanted dug, I could do it,” he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Mr Kichkam still works on most days, using the same earth mover that he bought 45 years ago. Eric Gallant, a maintenance worker for the St Alexis church in Rollo Bay, said he had never come across anything like it. “It’s something else. That’s one of a kind, I figure,” he said. “The only thing that’s missing is his casket.” “And me!” Mr Kickham quipped.

On This Day

Deaths

Last Week’s Birthdays

Rachel McAdams (38), Owen Wilson (48), Jodie Foster (54), Prince Charles (68), Meg Ryan (55), Jimmy Kimmel (49), Danny DeVito (72), Whoopi Goldberg (61), Larry King (83), Maggie Gyllenhaal (39), Linda Evans (74), Martin Scorsese (74), Gerard Butler (47), Anni-Frid Lyngstad (71), Beverly D’Angelo (65), Calvin Klein (74), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (58), Lauren Hutton (73), Martha Plimpton (46), RuPaul (56), Delroy Lindo (64), Sophie Marceau (50), Missi Pyle (44), Chad Kroeger (42) and Condoleezza Rice (62).

Next week peeps!

20th November 2016 | Categories: 2016 | Leave A Comment »

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