Dead Pool 14th February 2016

Welcome all to a special ‘Fuck Off to Valentines Day Special Edition’ of The Dead Pool, where there will be no further mention to said consumer holiday. Alas no points to award, in fact we’re very thin on the ground this week for deaths. However we have plenty of deathly news for you to read and plenty of gruesome facts.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Dan Gerson, 49, American screenwriter (Monsters, Inc., Big Hero 6, Chicken Little), brain cancer.
• Margaret Forster, 77, English novelist (Georgy Girl) and biographer, cancer.
• Wayne England, English artist (Magic: The Gathering).
• Christopher Rush, 50, American illustrator (Magic: The Gathering).
• Antonin Scalia, 79, American judge, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (since 1986).

 In Other News

Barry Manilow is out of surgery and is “doing well” after being rushed to hospital “due to complications from emergency oral surgery”. The 72-year-old singer was taken to a Los Angeles hospital after playing a sold-out show on Wednesday evening. In a message posted on Manilow’s Facebook page, his management team said it was due to complications arising from an operation he had on Monday. “For the next 48 hours, Manilow has been instructed not to talk, sing, or rap,” an updated posting on the singer’s Facebook page said. Manilow is due to attend Monday night’s Grammy awards – it’s not yet known whether he will still be able to make it. He has suffered a series of health scares over his career – having to undergo regular dental treatment after a benign tumour ruptured in his mouth in 1986.

Richard Dawkins has had a stroke on the eve of his tour of Australia and New Zealand. Management for the 74-year-old author of The God Delusion said he had suffered a “minor  stroke” in the UK last Saturday but had already returned home from hospital. Management for the 74-year-old author of The God Delusion said he had suffered a “minor stroke” in the UK last Saturday but had already returned home from hospital. “On Saturday night Richard suffered a minor stroke, however he is expected in time to make a full or near full recovery,” the statement said. “He is already at home recuperating.

Ken Watanabe has revealed he is suffering from stomach cancer. The illness has forced the 56-year-old Japanese actor to delay his return to the Broadway musical The King and I in order to have treatment. The Oscar-nominated actor has had endoscopic surgery and is recuperating in a hospital in Japan, his agent said. Watanabe, who has previously battled leukaemia, was diagnosed “almost miraculously early” with stomach cancer last month and underwent surgery, he said. “I was really shocked, my wife and daughter pushed me to have a health check and the cancer was found. It was a very early stage and they operated immediately,” he added. The actor was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in 1989 but resumed acting while still undergoing chemotherapy. He became ill again in the early 1990s and, following further treatment, has been in remission since.

Rapper DMX is recovering after being found unconscious in a hotel car park and resuscitated. A representative of the rapper whose real name is Earl Simmons said he had suffered an asthma attack, although one source told the media it was actually a drug overdose. Police in Yonkers, New York, were first alerted to the report of an unconscious man in a Ramada Inn parking lot on Monday night. Lt Patrick McCormack of the Yonkers Police Department told CNN that officers escorted Simmons to the nearby Saint Joseph’s Medical Center, administering chest compressions and oxygen in the ambulance.

Britain’s most successful gymnast is walking unaided after neck surgery following a fall during training for Channel 4 show The Jump. Beth Tweddle, who won bronze at the London Games in 2012, could only walk a few steps assisted by medics after the operation, which involved having a piece of bone taken from her hip. In a statement, she said: “The medical staff here in Austria have been fantastic and I couldn’t have wished for better people to be around me at this time. I’ve started to feel a lot better in the past 24 hours and I’ve begun walking by myself. It’s still a case of taking one day at a time.” Surgeons took a bone from her hip and used it with pins to fuse together two fractured vertebrae in her neck. The number of injuries on the third series of The Jump – five celebrities have been forced to pull out – has prompted Channel 4 to review safety procedures on the show.

Hugh Jackman has appealed to people to wear sunscreen and get regular skin checks by posting a picture of himself on social media after having a fifth skin cancer removed. The picture shows his nose covered in a dressing after the removal of a basal cell carcinoma, a common and usually non-invasive type of skin cancer. The 47-year-old Australian actor, who starred as the Wolverine in the X-Men film series, says he had his first skin cancer removed in 2013 after his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, suggested he should get a mole on his nose checked. Basal cell carcinomas are relatively common, accounting for about 70% of all non-melanoma skin cancers. They are not invasive, but can require treatment as some may develop into more aggressive skin cancers. About 95% are caused by UV exposure from sunlight.

The world’s longest-surviving heart transplant patient has died, 33 years after his life-saving operation. John McCafferty was told he had only five years to live when he received the transplant at Harefield Hospital in west London, on 20 October 1982. His widow Ann said: “The last 30 years we had together were brilliant. We’ve travelled the world.” Mr McCafferty, from Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire, died aged 73 on Tuesday at Milton Keynes Hospital. He was officially recognised as the world’s longest surviving heart transplant patient by Guinness World Records in 2013. At the time he said: “I want this world record to be an inspiration to anyone awaiting a heart transplant and to those who, like me, have been fortunate enough to have had one.”

And finally, we’re wondering if everything okay with the Queen? The only reason we ask is that the Arts Council have just sent out a document entitled “Advice And Guidance: Category ‘A’ Death” which lets organisations know how they should conduct their affairs in the event of the death of a senior member of the Royal Family. Although they do try to broaden the advice out for other “notable persons”, they return to the theme of Queeny carking it regularly. The most interesting part? We learned that while Charles, Camilla, Wills and Kate all classify as a ‘Category A’ member of the Royal Family, Harry doesn’t, perhaps further fanning the fires that he’s Hewitt’s son, not Charles’.

On This Day

• 1400 – Richard II of England dies, most probably from starvation, in Pontefract Castle, on the orders of Henry Bolingbroke.
• 1779 – James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.
• 1849 – James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
• 1852 – Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital in England to provide in-patient beds specifically for children, is founded in London.
• 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.
• 1924 – The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
• 1929 – Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone‘s gang, are murdered in Chicago.
• 1966 – Australian currency is decimalised.
• 1989 – Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.
• 1990 – The Voyager 1 spacecraft takes the photograph of planet Earth later become famous as Pale Blue Dot.
• 2005 – YouTube is launched by a group of college students, eventually becoming the largest video sharing website in the world and a main source for viral videos.

Deaths

• 1400 – Richard II of England (b. 1367)
• 1744 – John Hadley, English mathematician, invented the octant (b. 1682)
• 1779 – James Cook, English captain and explorer (b. 1728)
• 1975 – Julian Huxley, English biologist and eugenicist, co-founded the World Wide Fund for Nature (b. 1887)
• 1975 – P. G. Wodehouse, English author and poet (b. 1881)
• 1996 – Bob Paisley, English footballer and manager (b. 1919)
• 2010 – Dick Francis, Welsh jockey and author (b. 1920)

Why Are So Many Unnatural Deaths Not Investigated? 

The UK’s most prolific murderer, Harold Shipman, would have been 70 this year had he not killed himself 16 years ago in Wakefield Prison. He managed to kill at least 250 women without alerting suspicion. The whistle was blown by a relative of one of the victims. So why wasn’t the case picked up by a coroner and how many more unnatural deaths are officially missed?

What do coroners do? A coroner is an an independent judicial officer, appointed and paid for by the relevant local authority. He or she is usually a solicitor or doctor of five years standing, although all new appointments now have to be legally qualified. Their job is to investigate deaths that are violent, unnatural or of unknown cause with a view to determine who the deceased was, when and where they died and, crucially, how they died. There are about 507,000 deaths every year in England and Wales, of which about 45% will be reported to coroners. And there are currently 96 separate local coroner areas, each with their own senior coroner.

The coroner has three main decisions to make when a death occurs. First, should they accept the death for investigation? The general principles are that if the death was violent, unnatural or of unknown cause, it should be investigated. However, local reporting rules mean that what’s considered violent or unnatural varies from one area to another.

Second, once investigated, the coroner must decide whether to open an inquest. An inquest is opened when the original reason for accepting the death for investigation – violent, unnatural, or unknown cause – still holds after initial enquiries. Data for the same period showed that deaths advancing to inquest ranged from 6% in some areas to 29% in others.

The third and final decision for the coroner is to determine the appropriate verdict for the death. There are six common verdicts (now known as  “conclusions”): natural causes, accidental death, suicide, industrial disease, open verdict, and the increasingly used “narrative” verdict where the circumstances of the death are recorded in a brief story.

You might think that coroner areas would have a fairly similar profile of verdicts but, in fact, these too vary widely. For example, narrative verdicts for the period 2000-2010 ranged from almost zero in some areas, such as Carmarthenshire in south-west Wales, to 46% of all verdicts returned in another (Birmingham and Solihull). And in South Shropshire, just 3% of inquest verdicts were recorded as natural deaths, while that verdict accounted for an incredible 52% of all inquest conclusions in Sunderland. Suicide rates ranged from 4% to 27%.

Does this matter? Widely varying outcomes across the country prove that not all coroner areas can be striking the appropriate balance between the needs of the state and the rights of the bereaved. This is how Harold Shipman was able to kill people without anybody batting an eyelid. Had he been practising in another area he would have been caught much sooner or perhaps not at all!!!

Last Week’s Birthdays

James Spader (56), Garth Brooks (54), Chris Rock (51), Ashton Kutcher (38), Nick Nolte (75), Mary Steenbergen (63), John Grisham (61), Seth Green (42), Joe Pesci (73), Mia Farrow (71), Greg Norman (61), Glenn Beck (52), Laura Dern (49), Elizabeth Banks (42), Chloe Grace Moretz (19), Robert Wagner (86), Burt Reynolds (80), Taylor Lautner (24), Damien Lewis (45), Jennifer Aniston (47), Sheryl Crow (54), Darren Aronofsky (47), Arsenio Hall (60), Josh Brolin (48), Christina Ricci (36), Mena Suvari (37), Peter Tork (74), Jerry Springer (72), Peter Gabriel (66), Charles Yeager (93) and Robbie Williams (42).

The Final Word

Actress Joan Crawford yelled at her housekeeper, who was praying as Crawford died. Crawford said, “Damn it! Don’t you dare ask God to help me!”

Next week peeps!

14th February 2016 | Categories: 2016 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 7th February 2016

Alas, no points to be awarded today, which is somewhat of a surprise after the glut of celebrity deaths we’ve been seeing lately. Either famous people are dying exponentially or you lot are getting clued up as to how to play this game!

A quick note about contributions towards the newsletter; I know you have all been enjoying Ceri’s excellent pieces of writing and you probably feel that you could manage a few paragraphs from time to time too. Don’t be shy, email in a short piece, if only to give the us a break from time to time as writing on the same subject on a weekly basis gets very difficult very quickly, as some of you might remember when you took over the Dead Pool when I took a vacation ;P

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Joe Alaskey, 63, American voice actor (Looney Tunes, Rugrats, Casper), cancer. 
• Benoît Violier, 44, French-Swiss chef, suicide by gunshot.
• Katie May, 34, American model (Playboy, Sports Illustrated) and online media personality (Snapchat), complications from a stroke.
• Kristine Miller, 90, American actress (I Walk Alone, Jungle Patrol, Too Late for Tears).
• Dave Mirra, 41, American BMX rider, suicide by gunshot.
• Edgar Mitchell, 85, American astronaut (Apollo 14).
• Axl Rotten, 44, American professional wrestler (ECW).
• Maurice White, 74, American songwriter and musician (Earth, Wind & Fire), complications from Parkinson’s disease.
• Raphael Schumacher, 27, Italian actor, hanged during performance.

In Other News 

The news on Michael Schumacher’s health is “not good”, according to Luca di Montezemolo, the former Ferrari president, in an unusual intervention which only added to the speculation and mystery surrounding the Formula One legend’s condition. What is known is that Schumacher is still receiving treatment in Switzerland after sustaining severe head injuries in a skiing accident in December 2013 in the Alpine resort of Meribel. The 47-year-old was put in an induced coma following the crash and has been recovering with a specialist medical team at home on the shores of Lake Geneva since September 2014. The seven-time world champion’s family have retained a dignified silence throughout, with updates few and far between. Sabine Kehm, the 47-year-old’s manager, declined to respond to Di Montezemolo’s comments when contacted by the media. “I have news and unfortunately it is not good,” Di Montezemolo told reporters on Thursday, refusing to elaborate in any way. “Life is strange. He was a fantastic driver and only had one accident with Ferrari in 1999 (Schumacher broke his leg in an accident during the British Grand Prix).” Very few people are known to have visited the former Ferrari and Mercedes driver, who won five straight championships from 2000 to 2004.

Talking about Schumacher’s, an Italian actor who was left in a coma after he accidentally hanged himself during a live theatre performance has been pronounced clinically dead. Raphael Schumacher, 27, was performing in a production of Mirages at the Teatro Lux in Pisa, Italy, when the incident occurred. He was taken to hospital on Saturday night and has been in a coma since. Doctors say his condition has worsened and that he was not responding to treatment. The BBC reports that following a six-hour procedure to establish brain death on Thursday, the hospital issued a statement: “The family and the prosecutor’s office have both authorised that his organs be donated, but their removal will be subject to a medical assessment to be performed in the course of the night.” Mirages is a six-scene immersive performance staged in different parts of the theatre, with audience members walking between them. At the time of the incident, Schumacher was reciting a monologue from Frank Wedekind’s Spring Awakening alone in a courtyard in front of just one spectator. The actor reportedly changed the ending of the scene by placing his head in a noose instead of using a gun. He was discovered unconscious by a second spectator, reportedly a medical student, who rushed to his aid. While it is assumed that the incident was accidental, an investigation has been launched into the theatre’s safety procedures. That investigation has shifted from grievous bodily harm to culpable homicide, or manslaughter, according to the BBC. Schumacher’s mother has rejected the theory that he may have tried to commit suicide. “My son recently lost his father and had ended a relationship but had found his serenity again,” she said. “He didn’t leave a suicide note and had no reason to kill himself.”

More than 40 years after Lord Lucan disappeared from a blood-soaked London crime scene, the high court has finally cleared the way for his only son to inherit the earldom. A presumption of death certificate was granted by Mrs Justice Asplin on Wednesday following a hearing that lasted less than an hour. George Bingham, 48, can now assume the family title as the eighth earl of Lucan. The hearing at the Rolls Building in central London had been scheduled to last three days but Neil Berriman, Rivett’s son, withdrew his objections to a death certificate being issued under the 2014 Presumption of Death Act. The judge made the declaration on the basis that she was satisfied Lucan had not been known to be alive for a period of at least seven years. The death certificate can be revoked if the peer, who would now be aged 81, reappears. The hearing was told that police had confirmed there were no live lines of inquiry into Rivett’s murder, although the case had not been closed.

Frank Bruno’s death wish of returning to the ring have been dashed after he was told his application for a licence would be declined. The 54-year-old former heavyweight boxing champion posted on Twitter that the British Boxing Board of Control had informed his agent that “should I apply for a licence this would not be granted”. His agent, Dave Davies, confirmed on Monday the board had been in touch, saying: “Frank, like many other former sports stars, misses the good times when he was in the boxing ring and watching his son train has reignited his wish to return to the ring. “However we have had confirmation today … that should an application for a boxing licence be received from Frank it would be declined. As agents for Frank we must respect and accept their decision.” Bruno, who has bipolar disorder, acknowledged he had “certainly set Twitter talking” after he announced on ITV’s This Morning that he was “coming back into boxing” to help him cope with the effects of his medication. Asked how drugs had affected him, he said: “They made me suicidal – mess up your head, mess up your clock – you can’t sleep. I’m walking around break-dancing I’ve got so much energy. Asked how drugs had affected him, he said: “They made me suicidal – mess up your head, mess up your clock – you can’t sleep. I’m walking around break-dancing I’ve got so much energy!”. Almost enough energy to die in the ring!

Gone With The Wind actress Olivia de Havilland, who –  at 99 – is the oldest living Oscar winner, is honoured by satirical magazine The Oldie. However she was unable to travel from her home in France to collect her Oldie of the Year award in person at Tuesday’s ceremony in London. But in a recorded message she said she was “utterly delighted” the judges deemed there was “sufficient snap in my celery” to win the accolade. The tongue-in cheek awards are given out annually by The Oldie, set up by former Private Eye editor Richard Ingrams to take an irreverent stand against ageism. De Havilland said: “It is deeply gratifying to thus find myself in the company of the Queen Mother, whose record I have long wanted to match as well as that of so many other distinguished recipients.” She shared her Oldie of the Year award with 101-year-old former barrister and member of the House of Lords, Jeremy Hutchinson.

A father of three choked to death as he tried to eat a McDonald’s cheeseburger in one mouthful, an inquest heard. Darren Bray, 29, blacked out when he attempted to fit the 99p burger into his mouth whole following a night out with friends. Cardiff Coroner’s Court heard that Mr Bray, of Barry, South Wales, had been drinking cans of beer, but not enough to affect his judgement, although eating a McDonald’s would be considered bad judgement in our book! He died from a food blockage to his airway and a coroner recorded a conclusion of death by misadventure. The hearing was told that Mr Bray had told friends to “watch this” as he picked up the burger, “rolled it into a ball” and put it in his mouth. However, Mr Bray went “blue” in front of two friends and started choking. Friend Sam Bisgrove told the inquest: “I could see him trying to cough it up and he was making horrible coughing noises. I tried to hit his back to help him clear his airway.” Paramedics arrived and performed CPR on Mr Bray, who was at a friend’s house in Barry, but were unable to restart his heart and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Dr Rhiannon Trefor told the hearing there was a 3in by 1.9in (8cm by 5cm) ball of food stuck at the back of his neck. The moral of the story, avoid McDonalds at all costs!

And finally, Antonio Docampo García, who died last week at the grand old age of 107, attributed his longevity to his drinking habits – four bottles of red wine a day, and no water. Mr Docampo liked to have two bottles of wine with lunch, and another two with dinner, his family told reporters. “He could drink a litre and a half all at once,” said his son Miguel Docampo López. “When we were both at home we could get through 200 litres of wine a month. He never drank water.” Mr Docampo, of Vigo in north west Spain, owned his own vineyard and was founder of the wine company Bodegas Docampo. (A cynic might suggest that tales of the wine’s life-giving properties could contain a teensy trace of marketing spiel.) Mr Docampo’s nephew Jerónimo Docampo, who now runs the vineyard, told La Voz de Galicia: “He sold the majority of the wine he produced, but still kept a decent amount back for himself.” “If he produced 60,000 litres a year he would keep 3,000 litres for himself. He always said that was his secret to living so long.”

On This Day

• 1497 – The Bonfire of the Vanities occurs in which supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn thousands of objects like cosmetics, art, and books in Florence, Italy.
• 1935 – The classic board game Monopoly is invented.
• 1940 – The second full-length animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio, premieres.
• 1984 – Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B Mission: Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).
• 1992 – The Maastricht Treaty is signed, leading to the creation of the European Union.
• 1997 – NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X.

Deaths

• 1871 – Henry E. Steinway, German-American businessman, founded Steinway & Sons (b. 1797)
• 1938 – Harvey Samuel Firestone, American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (b. 1868)
• 1979 – Josef Mengele, German SS officer and physician (b. 1911)

Why Do OAP’s Die Every Seven Minutes During the Winter?

Over the last four winters, according to the latest official figures, nearly 120,000 people in England and Wales have died of cold weather, or factors associated with cold weather such as a virulent strain of influenza. But campaigners argue that these excess winter deaths, defined as the difference between the number of deaths that occur each winter (from December to March) and the average number of deaths during the preceding four months (August to November) and the subsequent four months (April to July), have more to do with poverty than freezing temperatures.

And excess winter deaths seem to be increasing: despite last year’s mild winter, an estimated 43,900 excess winter deaths occurred – a rise of 140% on the previous year and the worst statistics since 1999-2000.  Female deaths leapt nearly 150% in a single year, from 10,250 to 25,500 between 2013-14 and 2014-15. Poverty rates for women remain higher than for men, which compounds health problems.

Weather seems to be a minor factor in explaining these deaths. Across Europe, England and Wales have some of the highest rates of excess mortality in winter months. All Nordic countries have far lower winter mortality rates, despite much harsher weather. Norway’s rate is a quarter that of England and Wales, while Finland reports no difference in mortality rates between the summer and winter months. In contrast, Spanish and Portuguese climates are milder than Britain’s, yet excess winter deaths are far higher.

“The UK has an appalling record on cold-related deaths, with one older person dying every seven minutes from the winter cold. Colder countries like Sweden are better at protecting older people from the cold,” says Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK. Abrahams argues the issue is not so much cold weather as increasing fuel poverty, where people cannot afford to heat their homes adequately.

“Cold homes are a bigger killer across the UK than road accidents, drug abuse or alcohol abuse,” says Maria Wardrobe, director of National Energy Action. She agrees that the key to tackling winter deaths is to make sure older people have a well-insulated, warm home and the income needed to pay the fuel bills. The NPC wants a fuel poverty inquiry, and more suitable homes built specifically for older people, extra money for insulation and winter fuel payments.”

Of course, fuel poverty isn’t the only reason for excess winter deaths. The main problem with these statistics is that the measure itself is simplistic. The myriad factors that exacerbate illness, vulnerability or susceptibility aren’t collated. Inequality levels, access to hospitals and social care, loneliness and poverty worsen physical and mental health, and increase people’s vulnerability to dying during the winter months.

So keep all this in mind when you’re hoping for a rich celebrity death during the Winter!

Last Week’s Birthdays

Carol Channing (95), Johnny Rotten (60), Minnie Driver (46), Justin Timberlake (35), Brent Spiner (67), Lisa Marie Presley (48), Michael C. Hall (45), Stephanie of Monaco (51), Graham Nash (74), Shakira (39), Morgan Fairchild (66), Rebel Wilson (36), Isla Fisher (40), Alice Cooper (68), Natalie Imbruglia (41), Charlotte Rampling (70), Christopher Guest (68), Bobby Brown (47), Cristiano Ronaldo (31), Michael Sheen (47), Zsa Zsa Gabor (99), Rip Torn (85) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (54).

The Final Word

Murderer James W. Rodgers was put in front of a firing squad in Utah and asked if he had a last request. He replied, “Bring me a bullet-proof vest.”

Next week peeps!

7th February 2016 | Categories: 2016 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 31st January 2016

We awoke this morning to hear on the radio that Terry Wogan has died. A great loss to the BBC and those who loved him, however two of us thought that his death would be worth listing, well done to Nick M and Ceri J, both get 73 points!! No only this, but Shân E stuck to her guns and kept Abe Vigoda on her list and managed to score 156 points as a Cert. So now we have a new points leader and if the celebrity deaths keep on coming as they are, I think we’ll all be scoring something pretty soon!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Henry Worsley, 55, British adventurer, multiple organ failure.
• Colin Vearncombe, aka Black, 53, British singer-songwriter (“Wonderful Life“), head injuries sustained in a traffic collision.
• Abe Vigoda, 94, American actor (The Godfather, Barney Miller, Late Night with Conan O’Brien).
• Paul Kantner, 74, American musician (Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship) and songwriter (“Wooden Ships“), multiple organ failure.
• Gordon Goody, 86, British criminal (Great Train Robbery), heart attack.
• Cecil Parkinson, 84, British politician, cabinet minister, cancer.
• Frank Finlay, 89, British actor (Othello, The Pianist, The Three Musketeers).
• Sir Terry Wogan, 77, Anglo-Irish broadcaster (BBC), cancer.

In Other News

Israel’s former president Shimon Peres has been rushed to hospital after experiencing chest pains, 10 days after he had a small heart attack. A spokeswoman has said medics treated him at his home on Sunday night and detected a “light irregular heart rate”. She said the doctors decided he should spend the night in hospital for observation. Mr Peres, 92, underwent minor surgery last week for a constricted artery. Despite his age, Mr Peres has maintained an active public schedule, mostly through his non-governmental Peres Centre for Peace, which promotes closer ties between Israel and the Palestinians.

Lord Lucan’s body was fed to a tiger after he shot himself, a member of the missing peer’s gambling set has claimed, the latest twist in the decades-old mystery surrounding the fate of the aristocrat. The account comes days before a procedural hearing at the High Court to determine whether a death certificate should finally be issued for Lucan. The Eton-educated 7th Earl of Lucan vanished after Sandra Rivett, nanny to his three children, was found murdered at his family home in Belgravia on November 7, 1974. He is said to have mistaken her for his wife Veronica and bludgeoned her to death. Three days later, the peer’s blood-soaked car was found abandoned in Newhaven, East Sussex, and an inquest jury declared him to be Miss Rivett’s killer a year later. Now, more than four decades later, a member of the set of wealthy gamblers to which Lord ‘Lucky’ Lucan belonged has given a grisly account of what is said to have happened to the peer. In an interview, Philippe Marcq says he was told by Stephen Raphael, another regular at the Clermont Club in Mayfair, shortly after Lucan’s disappearance that the peer travelled to a private zoo in Kent owned by his close friend John Aspinall. According to 73-year-old Mr Marcq, Raphael claimed he was among a group of friends at Howletts zoo who discussed with Lucan about what he should do next. The peer was said to be concerned that he would never see his children again and his wife would get both them and the family trust. In order to  make sure his estranged wife didn’t get a penny from his trust, he was advised the only way to avoid this was for him to vanish without a trace. His friends allegedly told him that, without proof of death, probate could not be granted on his estate for at least seven years – by which time his children would be old enough to look after their own affairs. They allegedly dismissed the idea that he flee abroad, saying he was not cut out for a life on the run and he would be returned to the UK. Instead, Mr Marcq said a pistol was placed in front of Lucan, who picked it up, went into the next room, and shot himself. The body was then fed to a tiger named Zorra. Police reportedly investigated the tiger theory at the time after Aspinall’s mother, Lady Osborne (the grandmother of Chancellor George Osborne) told them: “The last I heard of him (Lucan), he was being fed to the tigers at my son’s zoo.” When police visited Howletts, Aspinall is said to have responded: “My tigers are only fed the choicest cuts – do you really think they’re going to eat stringy old Lucky?”

I don’t know how I missed this last week, but Nickie  pointed out that Mustafa Koç, 55, Turkish businessman (Koç Holding), died of a heart attack. There’s a whole family of very successful Koç’s if you care to take a look on their Wiki. What I like most is that this Turkish family have made their fortune from hard work and graft and have since shared their wealth with their country by donating towards a Koç Museum, a Koç School and a Koç University. Who knows, maybe we will see his kind arise again.

A grieving family and funeral congregation were left horrified when a pornographic video was accidentally played during the service. Hundreds of people gathered at Thornhill Crematorium in Cardiff to pay their respects to Simon Lewis, 33, and his baby boy, Simon Lewis Jnr, who were killed in a head-on collision. Mourners at Wednesday’s funeral described their shock after a crematorium blunder saw pornographic footage played by accident, instead of a tribute made in remembrance of Mr Lewis. Cardiff council, which runs the crematorium, has launched an urgent investigation. “It was absolutely disgusting, the priest turned around to play the video of Simon, but instead a hard-core pornography video was played on the big screen,” said a funeral-goer, who wished to remain anonymous. “Everyone was in shock, Simon’s father-in-law was furious, he shouted at the staff present and told them to turn it off. “It took them nearly four minutes to turn it off, people couldn’t believe what they were seeing. “To the priest’s credit he handled it extremely well. He apologised on behalf of Cardiff Council and said that in 30 years of doing the job, he had never seen such filth.” Reverend Lionel Fanthorpe, who led the funeral service, said: “I remember looking up at the screen and seeing some type of video came on and a very loud noise. “I look at my congregations instead of the TV screen, but when I heard this noise and members of the congregation moving towards the screen, I realised something was wrong. “Members of the family were very distressed, and Simon’s father-in-law was desperately upset. “Thankfully an engineer came to fix it and turn it off. It seems to be some kind of electronic accident. A Cardiff council spokesman said: “We are carrying out an urgent investigation. There were four television screens used. “We are trying to establish whether the smart TV could have picked up a broadcast by accident from Bluetooth or a Wifi connection. The other TVs were not affected. “We are clear that it is not possible for any member of staff to play or download anything onto the computer to be shown on the screen.

On This Day

• 1606 – Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes is executed for plotting against Parliament and King James.
• 1747 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
• 1865 – The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery and submits it to the states for ratification.
• 1930 – 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.
• 1953 – A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands and over 300 in the United Kingdom.
• 1990 – The first McDonald’s in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow.
• 2010 – Avatar becomes the first film to gross over $2 billion worldwide.

Deaths

• 1606 – Guy Fawkes, English conspirator, leader of the Gunpowder Plot (b. 1570)
• 1956 – A. A. Milne, English author, poet, and playwright; wrote Winnie-the-Pooh (b. 1882)
• 1974 – Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-born American film producer; co-founded Goldwyn Pictures (b. 1882)

Ceri’s Grisly Corner

On our “how to die horribly list” this week is Necrotising Fasciitis, a rare Flesh Eating Bacterial Infection where the full thickness of whole areas of skin become infected, goes gross, black and dies in a short period of time and although the skin dies, the tissue beneath it is generally left untouched. The thing that marks it out as special is that it travels so fast, racing over your body like a flashover or backdraft or something leaving large areas of tissue beneath it either open to infection or dead.

NF can spread at the rate of 3cm per hour which, as I’m sure you can imagine is a right bugger when there’s only so much body to race around. Around 25% of people who get it die from it and many people lose loads of skin and require skin grafts, quite often large areas of tissue and or limbs need to be removed to try to stop this flesh eating menace’s spread.

Caused by relatively innocuous flora living on the surface of the skin, there’s no reliable way to avoid Necrotising Fasciitis other than practicing good hygiene and avoiding having a compromised immune system as most cases are in people who would be able to fight it off were their immune systems’ not taking a snooze or otherwise MIA. Very small scratches or wounds can start it off and then it’s holding a huge rave with only antibiotics or surgery as options for treatment and on top of all that lovely stuff it can also cause systemic shock and cause organ failure and ultimately death.

Many famous types have had their flesh metaphorically eaten by this infection such as Alan Coren (call my bluff), Jeff Hannerman (guitarist of Slayer) and there seems to be some confusion over whether Jim Henson (Muppets) died from it (or TSS). Either way it seems to me that it’s a safe bet for the monkeys of misfortune.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Aaron Neville (75), Neil Diamond (75), Nastassja Kinski (55), Kristen Schaal (38), Alecia Keys (35), Scott Glenn (75), Eddie Van Halen (61), Ellen DeGeneres (58), James Cromwell (76), Mimi Rogers (60), Bridget Fonda (52), Alan Cumming (51), Patton Oswalt (47), Alan Alda (80), Elijah Wood (35), Ariel Winter (18), Jessica Ennis-Hill (30), Tom Selleck (71), Heather Graham (46), Gene Hackman (86), Vanessa Redgrave (79), Phil Collins (65), Christian Bale (42) and Dick Chaney (75).

Next week peeps!

31st January 2016 | Categories: 2016 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 24th January 2016

Points galore this week!!! With the passing of the world’s oldest living man, Yasutaro Koide at the age of 112, Kaz scores 138 as she had him down as her Cert, and Paul C. and Dave J. both score 38. But not only this, Stu had Sheila Sim, so a further 57 points are awarded! Well done to all of you! This has now moved things along somewhat on the leader board and it’s barely mid-way through January!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Dale Griffin, 67, British drummer (Mott the Hoople), Alzheimer’s disease.
• Glenn Frey, 67, American musician (Eagles), songwriter (“Take It Easy“, “Hotel California“, “Tequila Sunrise“) and actor (Wiseguy, Jerry Maguire), complications following intestinal surgery.
• Andrew Hatch, 117?, American supercentenarian, world’s unverified oldest person claimant.
• Yasutaro Koide, 112, Japanese supercentenarian, world’s oldest living man, heart failure and pneumonia.
• Sheila Sim, Lady Attenborough, 93, English actress (A Canterbury Tale, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, West of Zanzibar), dementia.
• Jimmy Bain, 68, Scottish bassist (Rainbow, Dio).
• Jennifer Guinness, 78, Irish socialite and kidnapping victim, cancer.

In Other News

British-born astronaut Piers Sellers says he is now living life at “20 times normal speed” after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Dr Sellers, originally from Crowborough in East Sussex, is the deputy director of Nasa’s science and exploration division. The 60-year-old was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in late October. “It did motivate me to concentrate my thoughts,” he told the BBC. “I’d been feeling rough for about six or nine months, getting progressively more ill. The outlook in terms of expected longevity was a bit of a shocker.” Speaking of his diagnosis and treatment, Dr Sellers said: “The prognosis right now is 12 to 18 months.” Dr Sellers had to become a US citizen to fulfil his dream of becoming an astronaut and has campaigned for the British government to develop its own space programme.

Jamie Foxx has been praised for putting his own life at risk by saving a man who was trapped in a burning truck. Brett Kyle’s pick-up went off the road and rolled over into a ditch close to Foxx’s California home. Foxx said the truck became engulfed in flames “within five seconds” after he got the driver out. “I don’t look at it as heroic”, he told reporters, “I just look at it like, you know, you just had to do something. And it all just worked out.’’ The Oscar-winning actor said he heard the crash from his house and called 911 before running to the scene. An off-duty paramedic who was driving by also stopped to help. They used his emergency room scissors to break the window and cut the man’s seatbelt and pull him out. “I told him as we were talking, as I’m getting him out, I said ‘you’ve got to help me get you out because I don’t want to have to leave you'”, Foxx said. The driver’s father Brad Kyle met Foxx to thank him for his actions. He said he had been shown surveillance footage of the crash site and said several cars had passed by the scene without helping. The 32-year-old driver has broken bones and a punctured lung, but he is expected to recover.

American Pie singer Don McLean was arrested on a misdemeanour domestic violence charge on Monday in Maine, a jail supervisor said. In a statement on his official website, McLean blamed “hard emotional times for my wife, my children and me”. “What is occurring is the very painful breakdown of an almost 30-year relationship…. There are no winners or losers but I am not a villain. I hope I will not be judged in this frantic media environment,” he said. The 70-year-old was arrested on 18 January after police were called to a property in Camden, Maine, at 02:00 local time. He was later released on bail. It is understood his wife was granted a temporary restraining order against the singer after she cited a pattern of abuse going back three decades. She claimed she feared for her life when she called police earlier this week, writing: “Don terrorised me for four hours, until the 911 call that I think might have saved my life.” McLean, “vigorously denies” his wife’s allegations. One thing is for sure, this clusterfuck ain’t over yet!

The Ryder Cup star Jamie Donaldson has suffered a potentially severe finger injury following a mishap with a chainsaw. The  Welshman, who claimed the decisive point when Europe  defeated the United States in September 2014, posted a graphic photo on Twitter of what seems to be a laceration to the little finger on his left hand. The 40-year-old wrote: “So folks in my time off decided to have a fight with a chainsaw and lost! Oops!! C u in Dubai.” It is not yet known whether Donaldson hacked off the finger completely, although the image shows he required multiple stitches. Further details remain unclear, but his post seems to indicate he will play at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, which gets under way on 4th February.

On This Day

• 41 – Roman Emperor Caligula, known for his eccentricity and sadistic despotism, is assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards. The Guard then proclaims Caligula’s uncle Claudius as Emperor.
• 1848 – California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento.
• 1908 – The first Boy Scout troop is organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.
• 1961 – Goldsboro B-52 crash: A bomber carrying two H-bombs breaks up in mid-air over North Carolina. The uranium core of one weapon remains lost.
• 1984 – The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.
• 1986 – Voyager 2 passes within 81,500 kilometres (50,600 mi) of Uranus. Hehe 

Deaths

• 1965 – Winston Churchill, English colonel and politician; Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
• 1986 – L. Ron Hubbard, American religious leader and author, founded the Church of Scientology (b. 1911)
• 1989 – Ted Bundy, American serial killer (b. 1946)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Betty White (94), James Earl Jones (85), Jim Carey (54), Kid Rock (45), Zooey Deschanel (36), Michelle Obama (52), Kevin Costner (61), Dolly Parton (70), Katey Segal (62), Bill Maher (60), Buzz Aldrin (86), Rainn Wilson (50), Geena Davis (60), Billy Ocean (66), Emma Bunton (40), Jack Nicklaus (76), Placido Domingo (75), Dj Jazzy Jeff (51), Linda Blair (57), Piper Laurie (84), John Hurt (76) and Rutger Hauer (72).

Why is Leslie Nielsen STILL dead?  BBC Blog by Anisa Subedar 

Is this a familiar experience? You wake up. Check the internet and there’s news of the passing of a much-loved celebrity. Then some time later after scrolling through screens of social media tributes you discover that person had actually died before… several times.

This week there have been waves of online sympathy over the passing of actor Leslie Nielsen prompting many to quote their favourite and most memorable lines from films such as Airplane! and The Naked Gun.

The only trouble is Nielsen actually died in November 2010 aged 84.

That didn’t stop thousands of online users sharing this BBC story without checking the date and so it appeared that Nielsen had just died.

As a result the article popped up in the “Most Read” section which resulted in even more people sharing it. And the snowball rolled on gathering weight. Many people shared their own personal tributes on Twitter and then felt foolish when they discovered the truth.

Leslie Nielsen isn’t the only celebrity who has experienced Multiple Death Syndrome, as we’re calling it. Artist and children’s TV presenter Tony Hart and Columbo actor Peter Falk have also been mourned more than once.

So why does this happen and why will it keep happening?

BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan Jones says the intricacies of how stories spread on social media are complex and mysterious. “It’s no surprise that the deaths of Leslie Nielsen or Tony Hart are stories that people want to share. But they’re at an interesting level – not people whose death makes the traffic stop like David Bowie or Princess Diana, but big enough in people’s childhoods to mean something.”

So if a person’s celebrity is below a certain level some of their fans may have missed news of their original death. And if they randomly search to find out whatever happened to a star, they may discover a report of their hero’s death, but not notice the date stamp. And so another snowball starts rolling downhill. It’s chaos theory making its presence known via social media. An entirely innocent variation of the Butterfly Effect – very different from the malicious “RIP” trolling of celebrities who are still alive.

So what fuels the need to share the death of someone famous online in such a hurry without checking the facts? Rory thinks it’s obvious that there’s a natural urge to be first with breaking celebrity news. “Everyone now sees themselves as a celebrity reporter! I’m sure there’s an element of mischief involved – which sometimes descends into malice. Social media is now where you see all kinds of human behaviour reflected – from kindness to one-upmanship to sheer nastiness.”

So there you go, we’re all a bunch of nasties!

Next week peeps!

24th January 2016 | Categories: 2016 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 17th January 2016

Welcome poolers, to a sadness filled edition of The Dead Pool. The flying monkeys have indeed been busy, taking from us a host of people, but primarily David Bowie and Alan Rickman, both much loved for the work they did. However, the Reaper waits for no man, and we all missed a bunch of points there, in fact with all the deaths last week, everyone failed to score! Luckily we’re experiencing a huge cold snap, you know how old people hate the cold right?

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• David Bowie, 69, English singer-songwriter (“Space Oddity“, Ziggy Stardust, “Heroes“), record producer and actor (Labyrinth), liver cancer.
• William Del Monte, 109, American centenarian, last known survivor of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
• David Margulies, 78, American actor (Ghostbusters, The Sopranos, Conversations with My Father).
• Robert Black, 68, Scottish serial killer and kidnapper.
• Brian Bedford, 80, British actor (Robin Hood, Nixon, Much Ado About Nothing), cancer.
• Conrad Phillips, 90, British television and film actor (The Adventures of William Tell).
• René Angélil, 73, Canadian entertainment manager (Celine Dion), throat cancer.
• Alan Rickman, 69, English actor (Harry Potter, Die Hard, Love Actually), pancreatic cancer.
• Robert Banks Stewart, 84, Scottish television writer (Doctor Who, Bergerac, Shoestring), cancer.
• Dan Haggerty, 74, American actor (The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams), spinal cancer.
• Molly Madden, 109, Irish woman, oldest citizen of Ireland (death announced on this date).

In Other News

In what we could only describe as wishful thinking, a radio presenter announced the death of David Cameron in a news report about the death of singer David Bowie. Fiona Winchester, a newsreader across Global Radio-owned stations Heart, Smooth, LBC and Capital, was reading the news for Heart FM on Monday morning when she made the gaffe. A tongue-tied Winchester said “David Cameron has died” before quickly correcting herself and replacing the prime minister’s name with Bowie, who has died of cancer aged 69. If only her story was true! So, now that Bowie is dead, please rush out to buy all of his albums, because you never appreciated him when he was alive as you’re a sheep following the masses.

We’d better keep an eye on Celine Dion, because days after her husband and manager died of cancer, a family spokesman said on Saturday that the Canadian singer lost a brother to cancer too! Daniel Dion was 59. He was the eighth of 14 Dion siblings, so she does have some to spare. Strangely, both men suffered from throat cancer. Mr Angelil’s funeral will be held on Friday at the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal where the couple married. The following day a memorial service will be held for her late brother, with a formal funeral a few days after that, the family spokesman said.  I’m sure Celine’s heart will go on…

Former Israeli President Shimon Peres has undergone a “successful minor surgery” after suffering small heart attack, officials have said. Mr Peres, 92, was treated for a constricted artery that had caused chest pain, his spokesman Ayelet Frisch said. The veteran politician is said to be “conscious and in stable condition” in hospital in Tel Aviv. Mr Peres twice served as prime minister and was president from 2007 to 2014. His personal physician Raphi Walden said he was expected to stay in the Tel Hashomer hospital for “a few days”. Despite his age, Mr Peres has maintained an active public schedule, mostly through his non-governmental Peres Centre for Peace, which promotes closer ties between Israel and the Palestinians.

Bob Mortimer came so close to death he was given special permission to marry his long-term girlfriend just half an hour  before undergoing a triple heart bypass. The comedian, one half of double act Reeves and Mortimer, was told last autumn he needed surgery because his arteries were 95 percent blocked. He wed his partner of 22 years Lisa Matthews on the morning of the operation. Couples are usually required to give 28 days’ notice to their local register office before the ceremony, but special dispensation can be granted if the bride or groom is suffering from a terminal illness or has an operation for a serious illness scheduled. Mortimer, 56, said: “I found out on the Thursday that I needed surgery, so I made a will on the Friday. My consultant said I was incredibly ill, so the registrar in London gave me permission to get married on the Monday. So I got married at 9.30am on the Monday, and went to hospital at 10am to have my operation.” His comedy partner Vic Reeves did not have the opportunity to be his best man because the only guests at the ceremony were the couple’s two children, Harry and Tom. The news of his heart problems “came completely out of the blue” after visiting the doctor with a suspected chest infection, he said. He added: “I’ve just redone all my tests and they said if I was a builder or a scaffolder I would be absolutely fine to do the show. And we don’t do anything like heavy labour in it.” But Mortimer still has to monitor his health, with a device that gives a constant reading of his heart rate. If it goes above a certain limit, he would have to stop the show.

And finally, a British man received quite a shock when the courier service that was supposed to be delivering a Kindle to his address sent him a package containing a tumour tissue sample from America instead. The sample was supposed to be sent to the Royal Free Hospital in London, yet somehow ended up in Bristol at the home of James Potten, who had been expecting to receive the e-reader, which he had ordered online. FedEx had initially delivered the package to Mr Potten’s door while he was out, so he contacted the courier asking them to return once he got home. The driver then headed back to the house, bearing a package with the recipient’s name and address. However, when Mr Potten opened the parcel, he discovered a box marked “patient tumour – specimen enclosed.” After seeing this, the still Kindle-less environmental consultant got back in touch with FedEx, asking them to retrieve the package and deliver it to the correct address. Meanwhile, the Royal Free Hospital has confirmed that a package destined for one of its institutions had been erroneously delivered to an address in Bristol, and says it will now seek “answers from the delivery company as to how this mistake was made.” Apparently there is still no sign of the Kindle.

On This Day

• 1912 – Captain Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen.
• 1929 – Popeye the Sailor Man, a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, first appears in the Thimble Theatre comic strip.
• 1949 – The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, airs for the first time.

Deaths

• 1874 – Chang and Eng Bunker, Thai conjoined twins (b. 1811)
• 1893 – Rutherford B. Hayes, American general, lawyer, and politician, 19th President of the United States (b. 1822)
• 1964 – T. H. White, English author (b. 1906)
• 2003 – Richard Crenna, American actor, singer, director, and producer (b. 1926)

Ceri’s Grisly Corner

Generally we think of rabies as something that happens somewhere else, mainly because it does, however the population of our lists are fairly elsewhere (other than incarcerated ones) in nature too or at least travel a lot.

Rabies, or bitey frothy mouth disease is caused by a virus passed between mammals when the infected creature bites, scratches or otherwise passes the virus into the uninfected one. It causes fever and tingling in the site of infection leading to inability to move body parts or jerky movement, excitement, confusion, fear of water and aggression. All lovely symptoms to have, I’m sure you’d agree!

Once you have been bit, scratched or even licked by something that might be infected you need to have the vaccine as soon as possible as other than a few recent cases treated with the ‘Milwaukee protocol’ (mainly involving an induced coma) its 100% fatal once it gets to the brain.

Rabies (from the Latin for madness) leads to inflammation of the brain where it causes behaviour changes and movement problems. Animals infected with Rabies will often change their normal routine such as being active during the day if nocturnal or the reverse, leading to an increased chance of encountering other animals and so being more likely to pass on the virus. Moral being don’t let a drooling lurchy animal into your house!

Rabies has been around since at least 2000 BCE and has always been a source of fear leading to owners of rabid dogs being heavily fined if their dog bit a person, I’m not sure if you’d be fined if your own dog bit you though. There were many culls of stray dogs and cats carried out during the 18^th century however as people like fluffy animals in general the culls were not fully enforced and so were not particularly helpful in reducing the spread; idiots! During the 19^th century the increased understanding of dogs and disease led to more helpful initiatives such as quarantine which is the main reason behind the UK being rabies free and is still used today.

Over the years many stories and fantasy creatures have evolved from our collective fear of rabies, especially the behaviour changes. Werewolves (people acting more like dogs with rabies presumably), Vampires (people biting people) and even Zombies (lurching body movements, biting and aggression while having their personality destroyed) are thought to have emerged from legends and myths surrounding rabies.

It’s a rather nasty condition and I probably wouldn’t wish it on anyone on my list really. Even the pretty nasty ones, however I guess the ones in prison are kind of quarantined anyway so if it were to happen at least it wouldn’t lead to a zombie plague!

Last Week’s Birthdays

Rod Stewart (71), Kate Moss (42), Jason Bateman (47), Faye Dunaway (75), Orlando Bloom (39), Kirsty Alley (65), Pat Benatar (63), Howard Stern (62), Mary J. Blige (45), George Forman (67), Liam Hemsworth (26), LL Cool J (48), Dave Grohl (47), Carl Weathers (68), Melanie Chisholm (42), Pixie Lott (25), Amanda Peet (44) and Evan Handler (55).

Next week peeps!

17th January 2016 | Categories: 2016 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 10th January 2016

Welcome all, to a slightly controversial start to the scoring this year. As you know, the first death of the year is a highly coveted prize that secures an extra 50 points, so when Laura messaged me that one of her choices had died, I was over the moon. However, one of the rules of the Dead Pool is that your choices must appear in the Wiki Death Pages. Laura knew from the outset that her choice, Oscar Ray Bolin, a Death Row inmate in Florida, was a dodgy listing. Strangely he has no Wiki page of his own, despite his murderous tendencies and several appeals against his execution. Perhaps someone will take it upon themselves to write one. Saying this, he did pop up briefly on the mobile version of the Wiki Deaths page, he has been subsequently removed for some reason, but we do have pictorial proof, hence my decision to award the points! In the past, the Wiki Death Page has been rather unreliable in its listings, highly notable people are missed whilst obscurities from the world of fly fishing are included. I believe the listings are changed by the demonic power of Jimmy Wales himself, so in future, if you have an obscure listing, the onus is on you to send proof that your dead star was listed on the page, be it the mobile or normal version.

Well done Laura, first death of the year and a relatively young un too. 147 points to start off the season!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Robert Stigwood, 81, Australian band manager (Bee Gees, Cream) and film producer (Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Evita).
• Sian Blake, 42–43, British actress (EastEnders), head and neck injuries.
• André Turcat, 94, French aviator, first man to fly the Concorde.
• Pat Harrington, Jr., 86, American actor (One Day at a Time, The Inspector, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels), complications from a fall and Alzheimer’s.
• Otis Clay, 73, American R&B and soul singer (“Tryin’ to Live My Life Without You“, “The Only Way Is Up“), heart attack.
• Ed Stewart, 74, British broadcasting personality (Top of the Pops, Crackerjack), stroke.

In Other News

Pop star Janet Jackson has used her own lyrics to deny rumours she has throat cancer. Concerns spread earlier this week, when US media reported “sources close to the singer” saying doctors had found a growth on her vocal cords. Jackson responded by quoting her song The Great Forever on social media: “Sources say but where ya gettin’ it? Don’t create the truth you like.” In a statement, she added: “The rumours are untrue. I do not have cancer.” The singer announced just before the new year she would postpone several 2016 dates on her Unbreakable world tour, telling fans she had been advised to have surgery. “I need you to know, I learned today, from my doctors that I must have surgery soon,” she wrote. “It breaks my heart to tell you that I am forced to postpone the Unbreakable tour until the spring.” Jackson didn’t elaborate on her condition at the time, saying: “There will be no further comment.” The cancer rumour originated on US gossip site Radaronline and was rapidly reported by media outlets. The unnamed source was quoted as saying Jackson’s family were “terrified” as they awaited test results. After denying the cancer rumour, the 49-year-old stated: “I’m recovering. My doctors have approved my concerts as scheduled in Europe, and as I promised, the postponed shows will be rescheduled. Thank you for your prayers and love.”

Bob Mortimer has been cleared by doctors to go on tour with comedy partner Vic Reeves after having a triple heart bypass operation. Vic and Bob cancelled the first leg of their 25th anniversary UK tour last October because he needed surgery. Mortimer wrote on Twitter on Monday: “Doctors just passed me fit to do second leg of tour next month.” The tour, 25 Years Of Reeves And Mortimer: The Poignant Moments, was due to have started in Glasgow on 8th November. At the time, Mortimer wrote: “So sorry to those who bought tickets that we had to cancel 1st leg of tour. Three consultants said I had to have the op immediately.”

USA Paralympic silver medallist Richard Browne has sustained broken ribs and concussion in a car accident. The 24-year-old spent two nights in hospital after his car was in collision with a lorry in Florida. “Richard is badly shaken up and in a lot of pain but he was very lucky,” his manager Ian Byers said in a statement. “Doctors have advised that he should rest for three weeks, which will impact on his winter training and may mean that we have to review his early-season race plans.”

Did you know that Tony Hart, presenter of TV shows including Vision On, Take Hart and Hart Beat, died in 2009. Half the people you know on Facebook don’t. The internet apparently has an extremely short memory when it comes to children’s television icons of the 70s and 80s. Piers Morgan was one of the useless cunts that failed to check his sources when he joined in with the latest round of lamentations over the death of Mr Hart, but why would he check his sources, he never bothered when he was running The Tabloids™. The six-year-old story became the most shared page on the Telegraph website on Sunday as huge numbers of readers posted the link to Twitter and Facebook. Well done you if you saw through it!

And finally, in a slightly overthought suicide, a man strangled and dismembered his wife, encased her head in concrete and then used the concrete block to help drown himself in an Austrian lake. Officials said the couple were a 72-year-old man and his 71-year-old wife from near Frankfurt in Germany, but did not identify them further. The corpse and a bag were recovered by police divers from the waters of Traunsee on Monday. A day earlier, two suitcases containing the woman’s remains were found floating close to the lake’s shore near the town of Gmunden. Postmortem examinations suggested that the woman was strangled between 25th December and 1st January and that the man drowned some time later. There was no indication of involvement by a third party. “We believe first and foremost that [the man’s death] was suicide,” state prosecutor Birgit Ahamer said.

On This Day

• 1810 – Napoleon Bonaparte divorces his first wife Joséphine.
• 1863 – The London Underground, the world’s oldest underground railway, opens between London Paddington station and Farringdon station.
• 1927 – Fritz Lang‘s futuristic film Metropolis is released in Germany.
• 1929 – The Adventures of Tintin, one of the most popular European comic books, is first published in Belgium.
• 1985 – Sir Clive Sinclair launches the Sinclair C5 personal electric vehicle, which became a notorious commercial failure and later a cult collector’s item.
• 2015 – A mass poisoning at a funeral in Mozambique involves beer that was deliberately contaminated with crocodile bile leaving at least 56 dead and nearly 200 hospitalised.

Deaths

• 1862 – Samuel Colt, American businessman; founded Colt’s Manufacturing Company (b. 1814)
• 1917 – Buffalo Bill, American soldier and hunter (b. 1846)
• 1971 – Coco Chanel, French fashion designer (b. 1883)

Last Week’s Birthdays 

Victoria Principal (66), Mel Gibson (60), Michael Stipe (56), Julia Ormond (51), Robert Duvall (85), Diane Keaton (70), Marilyn Manson (47), Bradley Cooper (41), Rowan Atkinson (61), Jeremy Renner (45), Nicholas Cage (52), Kenny Loggins (68), Lewis Hamilton (31), Shirley Bassey (79), Joely Richardson (51), Jimmy Page (72) and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (34).

Ceri’s Grisly Corner

Hello Deadpoolers, I’m attempting to do my bit for our weekly death page by bringing you a weekly peek at the horrible, disgusting and terrifying diseases and conditions that will hopefully prove the downfall of those on your list.

This week we’re looking at a fairly recent threat to our genitals, that is, super gonorrhoea.  Super gonorrhoea (or as I prefer to call it ‘mutant clap’) has been in the news recently, as it emerged amongst some amorous feckers who aren’t sensible enough to wear a raincoat when making the beast with 2 backs.

The clap has been around since at least the 1600’s. It causes yellow or green discharge from yer bits, tummy ache and burny pee.  Obviously it’s a complete bugger to have running riot in your nethers and early treatments included various metals including mercury and weirdly an Indonesian pepper! Ultimately it became less serious and more treatable once penicillin was introduced.  While it isn’t strictly fatal by itself, the associated complications really can be, if not treated in time.

Right, back to the super in super gonorrhoea. In 2015, 16 cases of antibiotic resistant clap were reported in Northern England. This was probably helped by people not sticking to their treatment regimes.  The UK chief medical officer said that ‘gonorrhoea is at risk of becoming an untreatable disease’ and has ‘rapidly acquired resistance’ to the drugs we are using and as there are few alternative options for treatment we may soon be screwed.  Complications can range from sterility to sores on your nads (which if infected can kill).

I don’t know about you guys, but I know I don’t fancy getting gross, green genitals. I think I’ve just killed my libido. Shame that wasn’t on my list, eh?’

Next week peeps!

10th January 2016 | Categories: 2016 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 3rd January 2016

Welcome all to the brand new 2016 Dead Pool!! Please welcome all the new players and nod your head towards the old guard. We have now fully migrated to the new domain www.TheDeadPool.rip, so please update your bookmarks. Also the email has changed to mail@TheDeadPool.rip. After some teething trouble earlier this week, everything is now fully operational, pretty much like The Death Star!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

2015

• John Bradbury, 62, English drummer (The Specials). 
• Meadowlark Lemon, 83, American Hall of Fame basketball player (Harlem Globetrotters).
• Lemmy, 70, English rock musician (Motörhead, Hawkwind), cancer.
• Ian Murdock, 42, American software engineer, founder of the Debian Project. 
• Pavel Srníček, 47, Czech footballer (Newcastle United, national team), complications from heart attack
• Natalie Cole, 65, American Grammy-winning singer (“This Will Be“, “Sophisticated Lady“, Unforgettable… with Love) and actress, heart failure.
• Steve Gohouri, 34, Ivorian footballer (Wigan Athletic, national team).
• Wayne Rogers, 82, American actor (M*A*S*H, Cool Hand Luke, House Calls), complications from pneumonia.

2016

• Nimr al-Nimr, 56, Saudi Shia religious leader, executed
• Faris Ahmed Jamaan al-Showeel al-Zahrani, 38, Saudi al-Qaeda member, executed

In Other News

Irish broadcaster Gay Byrne is said to be feeling better  after suffering a heart attack earlier this week and has thanked members of the public for their support. The 81-year-old was taken to hospital on Tuesday. He is best known for presenting The Late Late Show on Irish television between 1962 and 1999. Since then, he has continued to work for the Irish state broadcaster RTÉ, working on television and radio shows. “I’m feeling better and on the road to recovery. Thanks to all for the well wishes,” he said. High-profile RTÉ colleagues have expressed relief at news of the improvement in his condition, and the station said “all his friends and colleagues across RTÉ are thinking of him and wish him all the best with his recovery”. Despite cutting back on his workload in recent times, Byrne continues to host a weekly show on RTÉ Lyric FM as well as the ‘Meaning of Life’ television series on RTÉ One. The family have requested privacy following the incident.

Nigel Farage has said police suspected sabotage after a wheel on his Volvo fell off while he was driving on a motorway. The Ukip leader claimed nuts on all of the wheels of his V70 were found to be loose after the “frightening” crash on a road near Dunkirk in France. He described how he was forced to stop after losing control on the motorway, fleeing the car and darting over a barrier to avoid oncoming traffic. “It was in the middle of bloody nowhere, and I was caught in a very bad position. There was a huge section of roadworks with cars going back and forth on the same side of the carriageway. “I suddenly realised I was losing steering but there was no hard shoulder to pull on to. I slowed down, put the hazards on and then one of the wheels came off. I jumped over the wall as quickly as I bloody well could to get away from lorries and everything.” When police arrived, they reportedly told him the cause was a malicious act but he decided not to take action. He has received death threats in the past but, when asked who he thought might be responsible, said: “I haven’t got a clue. Quite frankly, the way my life’s been over the past two and a half years, nothing surprises me.”

The favourite dog of Thailand’s ailing monarch has died. The dog, called Tongdaeng (Copper), became both a household name and a publishing sensation in Thailand after King Bhumibol Adulyadej adopted her as a stray puppy and penned a heartfelt book about her attributes in 2002. She was praised for her loyalty and obedience, with the book widely interpreted at the time as a parable about how Thais should live and remember their place within the kingdom’s rigid society. Her death was announced in a statement from the veterinary faculty of Kasetsart University late Monday. “While Khun Tongdaeng was sleeping and relaxing, she died peacefully on 26th December 2015 at 11:10pm at Klai Kangwon Palace,” the statement read. The statement added that she had been ill for the last few years and was just over 17 years old when she passed away. An unnamed official at the university confirmed that the statement was genuine. She regularly featured in palace photographs while the book about her outsold bestsellers such as Harry Potter in Thailand.

A clip shared by boxing legend Mike Tyson on Twitter shows the moment he tried out his daughter Milan’s ‘hoverboard’. At first, he manages to ride and spin the self-balancing scooter, however, he soon appears to lose control and ends up crashing to the floor. His daughter may have seen it coming, as she is heard saying: “Daddy, I don’t want you to fall.” Tyson, 49, posted the video on Twitter and said: “Seemed like a good idea to ride my daughter #milantyson #cyboard #hoverboard but guess not…” His fall, which sounded like a pound of wet flesh splatting on a hard concrete floor, proved popular on social media with thousands of shares.

A man died on Christmas Day in Germany after he was hit in the head by a flying piece of metal from a condom machine that he and two accomplices blew up in an apparent robbery attempt, police said on Monday. The 29-year-old man was taken to hospital in the western town of Schöppingen, near the Dutch border, by the two other men who fled the scene of the explosion in a car, leaving behind condoms and money scattered around the gutted vending machine. The two men told hospital officials that their friend had fallen down the stairs, injuring his head. Suspicious of their story, the officials called the police. During questioning, police said, one of them admitted that the three had blown up the condom machine, and that their fellow conspirator was hit in the head by metal as he tried to take cover. They should have taken precautions…

On This Day

• 1957 – The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
• 1977 – Apple Computer is incorporated.
• 1996 – The Motorola StarTAC, the first flip phone and one of the first mobile phones to gain widespread consumer adoption, goes on sale.
• 2009 – The first block of the blockchain of the decentralized payment system Bitcoin, called the Genesis block, was established by the creator of the system, Satoshi Nakamoto.

Deaths

• 1795 – Josiah Wedgwood, English potter, founded the Wedgwood Company (b. 1730)
• 1903 – Alois Hitler, Austrian civil servant (b. 1837)
• 1967 – Jack Ruby, American murderer (b. 1911)
• 1979 – Conrad Hilton, American businessman, founded the Hilton Hotels & Resorts (b. 1887)
• 2014 – Phil Everly, American singer and guitarist (The Everly Brothers) (b. 1939)

Last Week’s Birthdays

John Amos (76), Gerard Depardieu (67), Masi Oka (41), Stan Lee (93), Maggie Smith (81), Denzel Washington (61), Sienna Miller (34), Noomi Rapace (36), Marianne Faithfull (68), Ted Dansen (68), Jude Law (43), Danny McBride (39), Fred Ward (73), Patti Smith (69), Tracey Ullman (56), Jay Kay (46), Eliza Dushku (35), Ellie Goulding (29), Heidi Fleiss (50), LeBron James (31), Anthony Hopkins (78), Ben Kingsley (72), Val Kilmer (56), Verne Troyer (47), Tia Carrera (49), Cuba Gooding Jr. (48) and Kate Bosworth (33).

Next week peeps!

3rd January 2016 | Categories: 2016 | Leave A Comment »

2015 Faces We Will Miss

1st January 2016 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 27th December 2015

How’s this for commitment eh? A not-so-special post-Boxing Day edition of the Dead Pool. Yup, I spent half my Crimbo writing up this piece of tat just to keep you happy. Don’t worry though, I had plenty of time spare as they overlooked my space at the dining table and I had next to no presents to open, so here we are. I hope you all got to see The Queen looking as doddery as her husband at 3pm, surely 2016 is the year for both of them, but there’s only one way to find out, list them and send your deadly thirteen to me!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Patricia Elliott, 77, American actress (A Little Night Music, One Life to Live), Tony Award winner (1973), leiomyosarcoma.
• Carol Burns, 68, Australian actress (Prisoner), cancer.
• Brooke McCarter, 52, American model and actor (The Lost Boys, Thrashin’), alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency.
• Don Howe, 80, English football player (West Bromwich Albion, Arsenal, national team) and coach.

In Other News

Singer Janet Jackson has put her Unbreakable world tour on hold until spring to have surgery. Jackson said her doctors told her she needs an operation “soon”. “Please pray for me, my family and our entire company during this difficult time,” the 49-year-old asked fans. She said she would not be giving any details of her health condition. In 2008, Jackson cancelled a string of concert dates after developing migraine-associated vertigo, which might suggest that she’s got a brain bubble. “It breaks my heart to tell you that I am forced to postpone the Unbreakable Tour,” she said, adding that fans should hold on to their tickets. “They will be honoured in a special way when the new schedule is announced.” Would that be your funeral Janet?

Former Newcastle goalkeeper Pavel Srnicek is in a critical  condition in hospital after suffering cardiac arrest in the Czech Republic. According to information received by his agent Steve Wraith, the 47-year-old collapsed while out jogging in Ostrava on Sunday, which doesn’t surprise anyone. “I spoke to his family in the Czech Republic who said his heart had stopped,” Wraith told BBC Sport. “He is in a critical condition in hospital and remains unconscious.” Srnicek became a fans’ favourite during his first spell with the Magpies between 1991 and 1998. He was signed by manager Jim Smith and played under Ossie Ardiles, Kevin Keegan and latterly Kenny Dalglish, all of which are amazing names for your list!

The downhill skiing champion Marcel Hirscher escaped unharmed after a drone carrying a camera fell from the sky and narrowly missed him on his way down the slope during a race in Italy. The Austrian, who has won the overall World Cup title for the past four seasons, was on his second run of the slalom event at Madonna di Campiglio in Italy when the machinery smashed into the snow metres behind him. Hirscher appeared not to notice and continued his run, but afterwards he said: “This is horrible. This can never happen again. This can be a serious injury.” But we’re all hoping that it will!

And finally, a Montana man has been arrested on suspicion of threatening to shoot a student for divulging a plot line from the newly released Star Wars epic. Police say Arthur Roy, of Helena, got “angry” with a student he had befriended on Facebook after the boy gave up a subplot to Star Wars: The Force Awakens during an online conversation last week. During the online fight that ensued, Roy is alleged to have posted a photo of himself in which he appears to brandish a gun, which he indicates is a Colt 1911 with a “hair trigger”, according to a probable cause affidavit. The affidavit also says the boy was fearful Roy was going to come to “shoot him”. Roy also said he was “coming to find” the boy, whose school was placed on security “lockdown” after officials saw the exchange. Roy was arrested on Friday on suspicion of assault with a weapon, a felony. He made an initial appearance in Lewis and Clark county justice court on Monday, after which he was ordered held on $10,000 (£6,750) bail. Such a waste of resources, I could have easily told you that Chewy dies and Yoda’s babies have infiltrated the Imperial HQ as green larvae that need seeding by Luke’s special sauce, Oh, jesus turns up with a light sabre too!! Seriously, the film is that shit!

Oh… Michael Schumacher is still alive, just about. Whatever you have heard is false.

On This Day

• 1799 – Four thousand people attend George Washington‘s funeral where Henry Lee III declares him as “first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”
• 1846 – Trapped in snow in the Sierra Nevadas and without food, members of the Donner Party resort to cannibalism.
• 1862 – The largest mass-hanging in U.S. history took place in Mankato, Minnesota, 38 Native Americans died.
• 1898 – Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.
• 1982 – Time‘s Man of the Year is for the first time a non-human, the personal computer.
• 2004 – A 9.3 magnitude earthquake creates a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean, killing over 230,000.

Deaths

• 1972 – Harry S. Truman, American colonel and politician, 33rd President of the United States (b. 1884)
• 1977 – Howard Hawks, American director and screenwriter (b. 1896)
• 2001 – Nigel Hawthorne, English actor and producer (b. 1929)
• 2005 – Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (b. 1948)
• 2006 – Gerald Ford, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 38th President of the United States (b. 1913)
• 2012 – Gerry Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1929)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Jane Fonda (78), Kit Harington (29), Samuel L. Jackson (67), Kiefer Sutherland (49), Jonah Hill (32), Sissy Spacek (66), Ricky Martin (44), Jared Leto (44), Annie Lennox (61), Phil Spector (76), Harry Shearer (72), July Delpy (46), Chris Evert (61), Phil Donohue (80), Ralph Fiennes (53), Vanessa Paradis (43), Lars Ulrich (52), He,ena Christensen (47), Dido (44), Stephenie Meyer (43) and Lemmy Kilmister (70).

End of year round up next folks!

27th December 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 20th December 2015

Welcome all, to a points ridden edition of the Dead Pool. Lets start off with the only one who’s died this week, Jimmy Hill! Wendy had him down as her Cert, so 163 points, well done!! Now onto the housekeeping. Those pesky names I missed throughout the year. Luke had Ingeborg Sjöqvist, so 47 points. Barry had Denis Healey, so 52 points. Lee had Nicholas Winton, 44 points and he had Stuart Scott, 101 points. Martin also had Stuart Scott, 101 points. So there’s some movement on the leader board.

Do I need to remind you that there is only 11 days left? Which means that you have that much time to submit your list for 2016, best get your arses into gear!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Kathy Secker, 70, British television presenter. (body discovered on this date).
• Patricia Brooker, 80, British reality television personality (The Only Way Is Essex).
• Peter Dickinson, 88, British author.
• Jimmy Hill, 87, English footballer (Fulham), manager, trade union leader (Professional Footballers’ Association) and TV presenter (Match of the Day), Alzheimer’s disease.
• Greville Janner, Baron Janner of Braunstone, 87, British politician, Member of Parliament for Leicester North West and later Leicester West (1970–1997), Alzheimer’s disease.

 In Other News

England’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks has revealed he is suffering from kidney cancer for a second time. Having lost one kidney to the disease 10 years ago, Banks, 77, is receiving chemotherapy after blood tests showed the other is now affected. He told the media: “Last year we went on our annual holiday to Florida. A week later I couldn’t sleep and then I couldn’t even stand due to the pain. I was sent straight to hospital where they told me I had cancer. I was so shocked when they told me it was my kidney. “The last time I had the cancer it was very large but they were able to remove the kidney and take the cancer away with it. We hope medication will make this cancer small enough for them to operate and carry out electrical treatment to break it up. But if it grows they will have to remove [the kidney] and I’ll need a replacement.”

Marc Dal Maso, who was in charge of Japan’s scrum during Eddie Jones’s time there, has revealed he has Parkinson’s disease and believes the blows he received during his career as a hooker are the cause. Dal Maso, who played for France 33 times, will not be part of Jones’s England regime as he resumes a consultancy role with the Highlanders in Otago in the new year. He said the illness was diagnosed in 2012 but he did not tell anyone, including Jones, until now. “The problems started when I was 30 and still playing,” said Dal Maso, who is 48, in an interview with a French newspaper. “I was not feeling well, tired all the time, and my sister, who works in medicine, suggested I had tests. A scan revealed Parkinson’s disease and I am on medication morning, noon and night.

Actor James Woods has narrowly avoided serious injury after being involved in a major car accident. The three-time Emmy award winner tweeted on Monday that a man driving “75+ in an ice storm” spun out of control. In a dramatic report of events, Woods said he “hit right wall to avoid him, spun 180, hit left wall sliding backwards going 60 mph.” “Huge drop 100 feet into river below, but the guardrail held. I managed to pull out and slide down out of oncoming traffic. Six car pileup.” The Nixon actor said there were no deaths but his car was “wrecked”. “Good to be alive. Glad everybody survived.” Woods was driving in the US state of Colorado in a 4WD jeep he described as an “old tank”. “That Jeep saved my life,” he tweeted. He also said police officers told him he was the only driver involved who didn’t hit anybody. Woods said he had only a “little concussion”. “God smiled on me today. I am so happy to be alive.”

Wilnelia Forsyth has revealed she feared for the life of her husband, Sir Bruce, after he had surgery following a fall, but said he was getting better. The veteran television presenter underwent keyhole surgery on an abdominal aortic aneurysm in mid-November and is still in recovery, forcing him to pull out of hosting the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special. The aneurysm was discovered in October after a fall, which left him in hospital with a minor concussion and abrasions on his face. The 87-year-old entertainer has been recovering at home and his wife said it had been an emotional time. She told the Daily Mail: “I’m not ready to lose him yet. This has scared me to death, particularly waiting in that hospital when he was having his operation. That felt like an eternity. Because of Bruce’s age there are so many risks involved. “You think: ‘My God, will he come out all right?’ But you have to trust the doctors. The alternative – not having surgery – was worse. It’s like you’re in a corner. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t, because this is such a fatal thing.” The 58-year-old said the surgery and recovery had been “very, very hard” for her husband, who was a “proud man”. But she said: “We’ve been told with this kind of operation it will take one or two months for him to fully recover. Seeing my husband getting better is like having an early Christmas present.”

Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej has made a rare public appearance, amid concerns for his ailing health. In television footage released on Monday by the palace he is seen swearing in judges at a Bangkok hospital where he has been staying. He has received treatment for a number of ailments including a lung infection. The health of the 88-year-old monarch is of public concern as he is widely revered and seen as an arbiter in the country’s divided political arena. The king, who is the world’s longest serving monarch, was last seen in September in a video released by the palace. He missed his birthday celebrations for the second consecutive year on 5th December. The event was marked by a cycling event last week in Bangkok led by his son, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn. Palace officials did not give any further details of the king’s health on Monday.

The former BBC broadcaster, Stuart Hall, has survived and been released from prison after serving half of his sentence for sexual abuse. The former It’s a Knockout presenter, now 85, was jailed in 2013 after he admitted indecently assaulting 13 girls, one as young as nine, between 1967 and 1985. He was sentenced to 15 months, which was doubled when the court of appeal ruled the original term “inadequate”, and received an additional 30 months in jail in 2014 when he pleaded guilty to two counts of indecently assaulting a teenage girl. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said it was unable to comment on individual cases, but added: “Public protection is our top priority and offenders automatically released on licence at the halfway point of their sentence are subject to strict controls. Either way, lock up your daughters!

And finally, the doctor of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he is in “excellent” health and has had no significant medical problems. Mr Trump had been under pressure to release his medical history after several other candidates had done so. The 69-year-old real estate tycoon would become the oldest president to be elected in US history. However, his physician said he would be the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency”. New York City-based physician Harold Bornstein said his physical strength and stamina are “extraordinary”. Promising to release it a few weeks ago, he tweeted that his medical report would show “perfection”. “I am fortunate to have been blessed with great genes,” Mr Trump wrote on Facebook. “People have been impressed by my stamina, but to me it has been easy because I am truly doing something that I love.” Mr Bornstein writes in a note that he has been Mr Trump’s personal physician since 1980, and that in 39 years, he has had no major issues. His blood pressure and laboratory tests are “astonishingly excellent” and he has lost 15 pounds (7kg) in the past year, according to Mr Bornstein. He said Mr Trump has had no forms of cancer, or joint surgery, and does not smoke or drink alcohol.

On This Day

• 1192 – Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after signing a treaty with Saladin ending the Third Crusade.
• 1946 – The popular Christmas film It’s a Wonderful Life is first released in New York City.
• 1951 – The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs.
• 1955 – Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.
• 1987 – In the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
• 2007 – Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.

Deaths

• 1862 – Robert Knox, Scottish surgeon and zoologist (b. 1791)
• 1968 – John Steinbeck, American author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
• 1973 – Bobby Darin, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1936)
• 1996 – Carl Sagan, American astronomer, astrophysicist, and cosmologist (b. 1934)
• 2010 – Brian Hanrahan, English journalist (b. 1949)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Dick Van Dyke (90), Christopher Plummer (86), Steve Buscemi (58), Ted Nugent (67), Jamie Foxx (48), Taylor Swift (26), Vanessa Hudgens (27), Don Johnson (66), Michelle Dockery (34), Billy Gibbons (66), Ernie Hudson (70), Eugene Levy (69), Bill Pullman (62), Milla Jovovich (40), Laurie Holden (46), Pope Francis (79), Keith Richards (72), Stephen Spielberg (69), Leonard Maltin (65), Ray Liotta (61), Christina Aguilera (35), Steve Austin (51), Jennifer Beals (52), Kirsty Swanson (46), Alyssa Milano (43) and Jake Gyllenhaal (35).

Next week peeps!

20th December 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 13th December 2015

Good afternoon all, no points to award this week with only 18 days left to go! So no change in the league table and Paul C looks very strong there in the lead, which shows how important it is to pick successful Cert’s and Women. So far, four of us have handed in lists for 2016, so we will be continuing with the whole escaped again.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Nicholas Smith, 81, British actor (Are You Being Served?, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Doctor Who), complications from a fall.
• Holly Woodlawn, 69, Puerto Rican-born American actress and Warhol superstar, brain and liver cancer.
• Shirley Stelfox, 74, British actress (Emmerdale, Keeping Up Appearances, Coronation Street), cancer.
• Martin E. Brooks, 90, American actor (The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Dallas).
• Douglas Tompkins, 72, American conservationist and businessman, co-founder of The North Face and Esprit, hypothermia following kayak accident.

In Other News

Former US president Jimmy Carter announced that he was cancer-free on Sunday, just four months after revealing that doctors had found four spots of melanoma on his brain. “My most recent MRI brain scan did not reveal any signs of the original cancer spots nor any new ones,” Carter said in a statement on Sunday. “I will continue to receive regular three-week immunotherapy treatments of pembrolizumab,” he added, referring to a common cancer drug. Carter, 91, shared the news on Sunday with worshippers at the Baptist church in Georgia where he teaches Bible study. The news was confirmed by two grandsons. When he announced the diagnosis in August, the former president’s outlook did not appear so rosy. His entire nuclear family from childhood – two sisters, a brother and both parents – died from cancer. Carter said he had been diagnosed with melanoma on his liver and that he had told his wife of 69 years, Rosalynn, 88, months earlier. An operation to remove growths on his liver had discovered the additional growths on his brain. In November, Carter told the AP he had reacted well to treatment. “I haven’t been uncomfortable or ill after the treatments were over. So that part of it has been a relief to me and I think to the doctors. But the final result of how well the treatments are combatting or controlling the cancer, we don’t know yet.” Carter has lived 34 years post-presidency, longer than any of his peers. Both presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan lived to be 93 while former president George HW Bush turned 91 in June.

An attempt by Lord Lucan’s son to obtain a death certificate for the peer who disappeared more than 40 years ago reached the high court in London, on Tuesday. The legal move by his only son, George Bingham, is at an early stage and senior official Master Teverson is expected to deal with preliminary issues about how it should proceed. Lucan vanished after Sandra Rivett, nanny to his three children, was found murdered at the family home, 46 Lower Belgrave Street, central London, on 7 November 1974. Even though he was officially declared dead by the high court in 1999, there have been reported sightings in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand, and even claims that he fled to India and lived life as a hippy called “Jungly Barry”. Lord Bingham has applied under the Presumption of Death Act, which came into effect a year ago, so he can inherit the title as eighth earl. Bingham said the 1999 declaration had not proved death “for all purposes” and the new law allowed for a more complete process. But his application in London faces an objection from Rivett’s son, Neil Berriman. Berriman, 47, has told the Daily Mail: “I don’t know if Lord Lucan is alive or not – but I want justice. “There have been too many coverups already and he should not be declared dead. If Lord Lucan is still alive, he should be prosecuted.” On the night of Lucan’s disappearance, the nanny’s attacker also turned on Bingham’s mother, Lady Lucan, beating her severely before she managed to escape and raise the alarm at a nearby pub. Lucan’s car was found abandoned and soaked in blood in Newhaven, East Sussex, and an inquest jury declared the wealthy peer the killer a year later.

Late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s son Hannibal has been freed after being briefly kidnapped by an armed group in Lebanon,  security sources say. In a video shown on Lebanese TV, the captive businessman was seen appealing for more information concerning the 1978 disappearance of the prominent Lebanese Shia cleric Musa al-Sadr. He was freed in the city of Baalbek and dispatched to Beirut, police said. The 40-year-old former playboy was given sanctuary in Oman in 2012.

And finally, A burglary suspect has been attacked and killed by an 11-foot alligator while trying to escape from police officers. The remains of 22-year-old Matthew Riggins, a resident of Palm Bay, Florida, were found in a lake in Barefoot Bay on November 23rd, ten days after he was reported missing. On the evening of November 10th local residents in Barefoot Bay had called the police to report two men dressed in black who’d been acting suspiciously behind their homes. Police launched a search with a helicopter and a dog unit and, according to deputies, Riggins called his girlfriend on the phone to tell her he and an accomplice were being chased by authorities. Police believe Riggins then jumped over a fence to hide in a lake – at which point he encountered the alligator. “He probably went into the lake to hide from the officers and the dog, and came across that gator,” said Major Tod Goodyear of Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. “To hide somewhere to try and get away, and then meeting up with an animal like that, no, I’ve never had that happen before.” Riggins’ body was found by police dive teams searching the area. While they were recovering the remains, a spokesman said, they were ‘aggressively approached’ by an 11-foot alligator near the body. The animal was caught and put down by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. According to reports, forensic examination of the alligator “located remains consistent with the injuries to Riggins inside the alligator’s stomach.” Barefoot Bay resident Chuck Stotes told reporters: “I would say it’s poetic justice, you want to sit there and steal from people.”

On This Day

• 1577 – Sir Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage.
• 1642 – Abel Tasman reaches New Zealand.
• 1972 – Apollo program: Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or “Moonwalk” of Apollo 17. To date they are the last humans to set foot on the Moon.

Deaths

• 1466 – Donatello, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1386)
• 1784 – Samuel Johnson, English poet and lexicographer (b. 1709)
• 2007 – Floyd Red Crow Westerman, American actor, singer, and activist (b. 1936)
• 2008 – Kathy Staff, English actress (b. 1928)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Nicki Minaj (33), Kim Basinger (62), Teri Hatcher (51), Sinead O’Connor (49), Judi Dench (81), Kirk Douglas (99), Beau Bridges (74), Bob Barker (92), Jennifer Connelly (45), Dionne Warwick (75), Dominic Monaghan (39), Ann Coulter (54), Donny Osmond (58), John Malkovich (62), Kenneth Branagh (55) and John Kerry (72).

Next week peeps!

13th December 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 6th December 2015

With little over three weeks left, it looks like a two horse race at the top of the league table, but with this game, you never know. One well placed plane crash is all we need. Now, onto next year. Same rules and your lists need to be in by 31st December. I’ll try not to hassle you too much, I bet you hate it as much as I hate doing it. I’ve added a PDF of 2015’s lists in with the email to remind you all of who was listed, and please refer to the website if you need some more juicy names.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Wayne Bickerton, 74, British songwriter (“Nothing but a Heartache“, “Sugar Baby Love“), record producer, and music executive.
• Anthony Valentine, 76, British actor (Colditz, Coronation Street, Escape to Athena).
• Scott Weiland, 48, American musician (Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver, The Wondergirls).
• Robert Loggia, 85, American actor (Jagged Edge, Scarface, Big), Alzheimer’s disease.

In Other News

Sir Bruce Forsyth has pulled out of hosting the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special for health reasons. The veteran presenter underwent a procedure on an abdominal aortic aneurysm last month. The Christmas Day show is set to be recorded next week, but a BBC statement said it was too soon for Sir Bruce “to have made a full recovery”. “Due to the long studio hours, he is unable to host the show, but will still play a part in the production.” The presenter underwent extensive medical tests after suffering a fall at his home in October. He had keyhole surgery in November and was expected to make “a speedy recovery”. At the time, the BBC released a statement saying the 87-year-old “will still very much be a part of the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special”. Sir Bruce, who stepped down from the role in April 2014, was last seen taking the helm of the dancing competition for a Children In Need special on 13th November, recorded ahead of his operation.

British Sailing has announced that Elliot Willis has been diagnosed with bowel cancer. The 32-year-old partner of Luke Patience in the 470 class had already qualified for the Rio Olympics but is now set to have some time off the water. “Clearly it’s pretty shocking news to receive, as I’m sure anyone who’s been affected by a similar thing would understand,” Willis said. “It’s still my dream to win Olympic gold but right now my focus and energy needs to be on getting better. “My health is my No1 concern and I will take advice and recommendations of the medical professionals as they establish the right course of treatment for me.”  British Sailing has said it will find a new partner for Patience in the interim but hopes Willis will recover in time for Rio.

Psychiatrists believe Peter Sutcliffe, the man known as the Yorkshire Ripper, is no longer mentally ill and should be returned to jail, prison chiefs have confirmed. Michael Spurr, chief executive of the national offender management service, told MPs on Tuesday: “Clinicians outside make a determination about whether an individual still requires detention in a hospital. They have determined that this individual [Sutcliffe] does not. We will consider that and the decision will be made by the secretary of state on whether he should be moved back to prison.” Doctors have recommended that Sutcliffe, 69, is taken out of Broadmoor hospital, the high-security psychiatric unit, and moved into a specialist prison. Sutcliffe, who was given 20 life sentences for the murder of 13 women and the attempted murder of seven others, was moved to Broadmoor from Parkhurst jail in 1984 after he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Sutcliffe’s attacks provoked panic in the north of England between 1975 and 1980, and the police operation to catch him was the most extensive and controversial investigation of the 20th century. Let’s see how long he survives in general population…

Emma Morano, Europe’s oldest person and the second-oldest in the world, marked her 116th birthday by offering to sing her favourite song for visiting well-wishers, Italian media reported. Morano, one of only two women alive certified to have been born in the 19th century, reached the milestone on Sunday in her one-bedroom flat in Verbania, a small town in the Piedmont region of north-west Italy. Morano attributed her longevity to having left a violent husband in 1938, shortly after the death of her only child at seven months, and to eating three eggs a day – two of them raw. Susannah Mushatt Jones, the American who is the only other member of the 116 club, also attributes her longevity to many decades of living on her own, having been married for only five years between 1928-33. The Brooklyn resident is also a regular egg eater – although she prefers hers scrambled and served with four rashers of bacon.

On This Day

• 1768 – The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published.
• 1865 – The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, banning slavery.
• 1884 – The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., is completed.
• 1953 – Vladimir Nabokov completes his controversial novel Lolita.
• 1967 – Adrian Kantrowitz performs the first human heart transplant in the United States.
• 1969 – Meredith Hunter is killed by Hells Angels during a Rolling Stones concert at the Altamont Speedway in California.

Deaths

• 1972 – Janet Munro, English actress and singer (b. 1934)
• 1988 – Roy Orbison, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
• 1993 – Don Ameche, American actor and singer (b. 1908)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Amanda Seyfried (30), Jay-Z (46), Jeff Bridges (66), Julianne Moore (55), Ozzy Osbourne (67), Britney Spears (34), Woody Allen (80), Bette Midler (70), Ben Stiller (50), Billy Idol (60), Don Cheadle (51), Sarah Silverman (45), Daryl Hannah (55), Lucy Liu (47), Frankie Muniz (30), Tyra Banks (42), Brendan Fraser (47), Nelly Furtado (37), Tom Sizemore (54), Diane Ladd (80), Joel Cohen (61), Geena Lee Nolin (44), Ridley Scott (78), Mandy Patinkin (63), John Densmore (71) and Nick Stahl (36).

Next week peeps!

6th December 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 29th November 2015

Who? Yes, that’s how it is this week. A lack of celebrity deaths has brought us down to a German voice actor and a civil servant! Let’s hope this cold weather gives us a good pool next week!    

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Chris Martin, 42, British civil servant, Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister (since 2012), cancer.
• Norbert Gastell, 86, German actor and voice actor (Homer Simpson).
• Gerry Byrne, 77, English footballer (Liverpool and national team), Alzheimer’s disease.

In Other News

The ongoing saga of Casey Kasem’s life and death is still in the news. Three of  Kasem’s children and his brother have sued the late star’s widow for wrongful death in the latest move in a bitter family feud. The lawsuit accuses Jean Kasem of elder abuse and inflicting emotional distress on Kasem’s children by restricting their access to him before his death. They claim she abused him before he died, moved him from Santa Monica to Washington without telling them and, after his death, had him buried in an unmarked grave in Norway despite his wishes to be laid to rest in Los Angeles. “What she did to my father is reprehensible,” daughter Kerri Kasem said. “It’s disgusting. It’s horrific.” She added that the family members were taking legal action after US prosecutors decided not to bring criminal charges against her. Kerri has taken out the lawsuit with siblings Julie and Michael Kasem and their uncle Mouner. They are seeking damages of $250,000 (£166,000). But Kerri said: “We would rather see her in jail than receive one dime. We don’t care about the money. We care about justice.” Casey Kasem began his career in the 1950s and found fame with the chart programme in the 1970s. He was also the voice of Shaggy in the TV animation Scooby Doo.

St Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey is in  critical but stable condition after being shot in the head on Tuesday night, according to multiple reports in the media. The Rams said in a statement they were “aware Stedman Bailey was involved in an incident” in Miami Gardens late on Tuesday and that they had spoken with him. Police did not describe the nature of Bailey’s injuries, but a source confirmed that he was shot twice in the head while travelling in a car. Bailey, 25, was scheduled to undergo surgery Wednesday at the Aventura Hospital Trauma Center. A Rams source said the team believes Bailey’s injuries are not life-threatening.

Idris Elba has revealed how he almost died while shooting a film in Ghana, when he slipped behind a waterfall over a 30-metre drop. The 43-year-old actor admitted he had a lucky escape when his foot slipped off a rock and the branch he held on to snapped. Recalling the incident while filming the Netflix film Beasts of No Nation, in which he plays the warlord Commandant, Elba told The Jonathan Ross Show: “I nearly died … We decided to do this waterfall scene where all these child soldiers were walking behind this massive waterfall. “Cary Fukunaga, the director, decided to shoot it for real. We went to this waterfall and in this scene my character is standing there watching all the child soldiers go past. Now in the setup of that, the stunt co-ordinator says, ‘Listen everyone, this is a waterfall, that’s a 90, 100ft drop down there and the ground is very slippery, just be careful!’ “I put my foot on this rock just to hang out and chill out while they were setting up and as I’m doing that it’s slippery, obviously. I slip … I put my hand on this tree – it’s not a tree, it’s a branch. It snaps and I go literally about six feet before I go bang over and I got caught by the security guy.” So, he slipped next to a waterfall, talk about being overdramatic!

On This Day

• 1781 – The crew of the British slave ship Zong murders 133 Africans by dumping them into the sea to claim insurance.
• 1877 – Thomas Edison demonstrates his phonograph for the first time.
• 1972 – Atari announces the release of Pong, the first commercially successful video game.

Deaths

• 1530 – Thomas Wolsey, English cardinal (b. 1470)
• 1924 – Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer (b. 1858)
• 1975 – Graham Hill, English race car driver (b. 1929)
• 1981 – Natalie Wood, American actress and singer (b. 1938)
• 1986 – Cary Grant, English-American actor and singer (b. 1904)
• 1991 – Ralph Bellamy, American actor and singer (b. 1904)
• 1998 – Giant Haystacks, English wrestler (b. 1947)
• 2001 – George Harrison, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (The Beatles) (b. 1943)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Scarlett Johannson (31), Jon Stewart (53), Christina Applegate (44), Ed Harris (65), Tina Turner (76), Randy Newman (72), Miley Cyrus (23), Mark Ruffalo (48), Jamie Lee Curtis (57), Judd Nelson (56), Sarah Hyland (25), Rita Ora (25), Robin Givens (51), Billie Jean King (72), Bill Nye (60), Natasha Bedingfield (34), Peter Facinelli (42), Bruno Tonioli (60), Zoe Ball (45), Kelly Brook (36), Boris Becker (48) and Terry Gilliam (75).

Next week peeps!

29th November 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 22nd November 2015

Afternoon all, welcome to this weeks Dead Pool roundup in which we sadly report the shocking death of Jonah Lomu at the too young age of 40!! Although this week in history seemed unbelievably busy for deaths, none of us managed to score a point, and yet the looming end of year results are fast coming upon us! It’s almost time for me to start badgering you to begin researching your lists for 2016, as some of you newcomers have noticed, scratching the surface of celebrity does not cut the mustard. Anyhow, less procrastination, we have a busy newsletter for you!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Saeed Jaffrey, 86, Indian-born British actor (The Man Who Would Be King, Shatranj Ke Khilari, My Beautiful Laundrette).
• Vincent Margera, 59, American reality television personality (Viva La Bam, Jackass, CKY), kidney and liver failure.
• Cynthia Payne, 82, British brothel keeper.
• Michael C. Gross, 70, American graphic designer and producer (Ghostbusters, Heavy Metal, Beethoven), cancer.
• Jonah Lomu, 40, New Zealand rugby union player (All Blacks).
• Peter Dimmock, 94, British broadcaster (Sportsview).

In Other News

Former Liverpool and Rangers manager Graeme Souness has been taken to hospital in Bournemouth, but no details of the 62-year-old’s condition have been made available as of yet. Since leaving his last job in football as manager of Newcastle in 2006, Souness has worked in the media, most notably as a pundit for Sky Sports. His colleague Jeff Stelling opened the station’s Soccer Saturday broadcast by saying: “Souey, if you’re watching, get well very quickly.” He had a triple heart bypass operation in 1992, when he was 38, so one can assume that his Scottish hereditary love for deep fried pizza might have caught up with him.

Actress Kim Cattrall has pulled out of a play at London’s  Royal Court Theatre, less than a week before opening night on doctors’ orders. The Sex and the City star was due to play the lead role in a new play called Linda, by Penelope Skinner. n a statement, Cattrall said “with great sadness and at the advice of my doctors” she would not be able to continue with the production. The star, 59, thanked the theatre “for allowing me to put my health first”. Royal Court artistic director, Vicky Featherstone, said the theatre was “deeply sorry that Kim is unable to continue with the production”. Again, no real details on what is occurring, so we’ll just have to make up a story next week.

Sir Bruce Forsyth is back at home after undergoing successful keyhole surgery. The former Strictly Come Dancing host underwent a procedure on an abdominal aortic aneurysm last Thursday. “It is anticipated, given the minimally invasive nature of this operation, he will make a speedy recovery,” his manager said. The 87-year-old’s condition was discovered after he had extensive medical checks following a recent fall. “It is not connected in any way with the fall itself from which Sir Bruce has made a full recovery – indeed, he recorded Strictly Come Dancing’s Children In Need Special with Tess Daly, which aired last Friday,” his manager added. Sadly, the surgery is not expected to prevent the veteran entertainer from fronting the show’s upcoming festive edition.

Charlie Sheen has disclosed that he is HIV positive, in a television interview that followed weeks of speculation about his condition. “I am here to admit that I am in fact HIV positive and I have to put a stop to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks, of sub-truths – very harmful … stories that are threatening the health of so many others,” the actor told NBC’s Today show on Tuesday. He said he had learned about the diagnosis “roughly four years ago”, adding: “It’s a hard three letters to absorb.” Asked whether he had transmitted HIV to anyone since his diagnosis, Sheen said: “Impossible.” He also said he was “not entirely” aware of how he contracted the virus. Sheen’s doctor, Robert Huizenga, told the program the actor did not have Aids, yet. Sheen claimed that people who knew his HIV-positive status had extorted money from him to keep it a secret. And the Hollywood star said he would stop paying them now that his HIV status was public, adding: “I release myself from this prison today.”

Tony McCoy, who retired from race-riding earlier this year after 20 consecutive seasons as National Hunt’s champion jockey, escaped unhurt on Wednesday morning after the car he was driving was involved in a pile-up that closed the M4 motorway. McCoy was travelling east between junctions 14 and 15 of the M4 when a van and a car collided immediately in front of him. The van overturned, and all three lanes of the eastbound carriageway and one lane westbound were then closed as emergency services attended the scene and police cleared wreckage. “I’m fine and so is the other person in the car,” McCoy told the Racing Post on Wednesday evening. “We were involved in an accident on the M4 between junctions 14 and 15. A van and a car collided in front of us and I ended up with nowhere to go as a result. Fortunately, nobody was injured but all the vehicles were badly damaged.” However, the crash resulted in your Dead Pool Master being 10 minutes late for work, the bastard!

And finally, Argentina football legend Diego Maradona has had a second gastric bypass operation after his doctor warned that the 55-year-old fat bastard is 75kgs (11st 11lbs) over his ideal weight. Maradona had his first gastric bypass 10 years ago but has since gained weight and developed complications. “He told me he was feeling fine, that he wasn’t in any pain,” said Dr Carlos Felipe Chaux after the procedure. Maradona had surgery in the Venezuelan city of Maracaibo. He will stay in the city for at least eight days before travelling to capital Caracas to complete his recovery.

On This Day

• 1718 – Off the coast of North Carolina, British pirate Edward Teach (best known as “Blackbeard“) is killed in battle with a boarding party led by Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard.
• 1869 – In Dumbarton, Scotland, the clipper Cutty Sark is launched and is one of the last clippers ever built, and the only one still surviving today.
• 1963 – In Dallas, Texas, US President John F. Kennedy is assassinated and Texas Governor John Connally is seriously wounded.
• 1977 – British Airways inaugurates a regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service.
• 1986 – Mike Tyson defeats Trevor Berbick to become youngest Heavyweight champion in boxing history.
• 1990 – British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher withdraws from the Conservative Party leadership election, confirming the end of her premiership.
• 1995 – Toy Story is released as the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery.
• 2005 – Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany.

Deaths

• 1718 – Blackbeard, English pirate (b. 1680)
• 1963 – Aldous Huxley, English-American author and screenwriter (b. 1894)
• 1963 – John F. Kennedy, American lieutenant and politician, 35th President of the United States (b. 1917)
• 1963 – C. S. Lewis, Irish-English author, poet, and critic (b. 1898)
• 1980 – Mae West, American actress, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1893)
• 1986 – Scatman Crothers, American actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1910)
• 1992 – Sterling Holloway, American actor and singer (b. 1905)
• 1993 – Anthony Burgess, English author, playwright, and composer (b. 1917)
• 1996 – Mark Lenard, American actor (b. 1924)
• 1997 – Michael Hutchence, Australian singer-songwriter and actor (INXS and Max Q) (b. 1960)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Anni-Frid Lyngstad (70), Chad Kroeger (41), Beverley D’Angelo (64), Martha Plimpton (45), Maggie Gyllenhaal (38), Missi Pyle (43), Martin Scorcese (73), Lorne Michaels (71), Danny DeVito (71), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (57), RuPaul (55), Sophie Marceau (49), Rachel McAdams (37), Linda Evans (73), Kim Wilde (55), Owen Wilson (47), Larry King (82), Meg Ryan (54), Jodie Foster (53), Bo Derek (59), Sean Young (56), Ming-Na Wen (52), Goldie Hawn (70), Bjork (50), and Carly Rae Jepsen (30).

Next week peeps!

22nd November 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 15th November 2015

What a week! The flying monkeys have certainly been busy. Lets begin by dishing out the points! With the demise of Helmut Schmidt, 54 points to Paul G, Ashley and Barry, well done all of you! And with Warren Mitchell kicking the bucket, 61 points go to me!!! I scored at last!!! Woo! With little over six weeks left to go, there’s still hope for all of us!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Yitzhak Navon, 94, Israeli politician, President (1978–1983).
• Carol Doda, 78, American stripper, kidney failure.
• Andy White, 85, British drummer (The Beatles), stroke.
• Pat Eddery, 63, Irish jockey, eleven-time Champion Jockey, four-time Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner, three-time Lester Award and Epsom Derby winner.
• Helmut Schmidt, 96, German politician, Chancellor of West Germany (1974–1982), complications from surgery.
• Allen Toussaint, 77, American musician, producer, songwriter (“Fortune Teller“, “Working in the Coal Mine“, “Southern Nights“) and arranger, heart attack.
• Phil Taylor, 61, English drummer (Motörhead).
• Jihadi John, 27, Kuwaiti-born British Islamic State propagandist, drone strike.
• Warren Mitchell, 89, British actor (Till Death Us Do Part, Death of a Salesman).

In Other News

Convicted paedophile Rolf Harris has been taken to hospital amid fears about his health. The 85-year-old former children’s entertainer, who is diabetic, is feared to have fallen ill after gorging on chocolate and sweets in jail. Harris was taken from Stafford prison, where he is serving nearly six years for carrying out a string of sex attacks, to Stafford hospital, and we all know how shit that hospital is! Singer Vince Hill, 81, told the newspaper that he had heard from one of Harris’s friends that he had “sort of overdosed on chocolate”. He added: “According to him, that was the scale of the problem … he didn’t know he was eating too much chocolate.” Yeah, a diabetic not knowing that too much sugar is bad for him!

Sir Terry Wogan did not host BBC1’s Children in Need appeal for the first time in its 35-year history due to poor health. The 77-year-old presenter said he missed presenting the “wonderful, inspiring evening” on Friday night. A BBC spokesman said that Wogan was having a procedure on his back and, under doctor’s orders, cannot host a six-and-a-half hour show, adding: “We are so sorry that Terry won’t be able to host the show as we know how passionate he is about Children in Need. We wish him a very speedy recovery.” The veteran presenter recently admitted that he “probably drinks too much”, but walked for 30 minutes a day and ate a lot of fruit and vegetables. Wogan told the Daily Record he had no plans to retire: “They’ll have to carry me off stage. I do seven hours on my feet of live television for Children in Need every year, so the day that I can’t stand up is when I will stop doing it. So is this it?

Former US President Jimmy Carter is responding well to cancer treatment, according to his spokeswoman. Doctors in Atlanta have told the 91-year-old the tumours in his brain are being treated successfully and there are no signs of further cancer growth. However, the spokeswoman said that doctors will continue tests. Mr Carter, who served as president of the US from 1977 to 1981 and won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, announced his illness in August. He said then he would receive radiation and chemotherapy for four tumours that had formed in his brain. Media reports have suggested that Mr Carter was not experiencing any pain or discomfort during the treatments, and that his work with The Carter Centre had not been scaled back. The former president had been planning to travel to Nepal this month for volunteer work, but the trip was cancelled due to “civil unrest” in the country, so he can’t be all that bad.

Suspended Fifa president Sepp Blatter is in hospital after what has been described as a “small emotional breakdown”. Blatter, 79, who has led world football’s governing body for 18 years, was provisionally suspended for 90 days last month amid a corruption scandal. He was admitted last week, initially for a check-up, said his former publicist Klaus Stoelhker. “He is very happy and he is relaxing a few days,” he said. Last Friday, Blatter’s lawyer Richard Cullen confirmed that the Swiss had undergone stress-related health checks in hospital.

Michael Phelps, the American swimmer whose 22 Olympic medals make him the most decorated Olympian of all time, has revealed that he was “in a really dark place” after he was arrested last year for drunk-driving – and admitted to feelings of “not wanting to be alive anymore.” Shortly after his arrest, he entered a treatment facility in Arizona. He says his 45-day stint rejuvenated him, but at the time he felt frightened. “Hug-hug, kiss-kiss, turn in my phone and go to my room. It’s probably the most afraid I’ve ever felt in my life.” Phelps was pulled over in September 2014 after being clocked doing 84mph in a 45mph zone in Baltimore. He failed two sobriety tests and was charged with DUI, excessive speed and crossing double lane lines. Phelps’s coach, Bob Bowman, said “I had been living in fear that I was going to get a call that something had happened. Honestly, I thought, the way he was going, he was going to kill himself. Not take his own life, but something like the DUI, but worse.” However, Phelps has not drunk alcohol since his arrest, and has vowed not to drink until the Rio Olympics are finished next August. After years of enduring workouts with a hangover, Phelps is training clean. So, let’s see what happens next August…

And finally, a daughter grieved over the body of a stranger after hospital nurses mistakenly told her her mother was dead. Bernadette Walsh spent almost half-an-hour stroking and holding the hand of the dead woman – until medics revealed her mother was alive on another ward. She had not been told her mother had been moved out of the room on an orthopaedics ward, where she had been for the previous week and had been replaced by a patient who later died. The dead woman was said to bear a striking resemblance to her mother. It was only when nurses told Ms Walsh that “Roy’s on his way” that the mistake began to unravel. The 53-year-old told the staff she did not know anyone called Roy and nursing staff realised the mistake, apologised and took her to another ward where her mother Elizabeth, a 82-year-old widow from Whitefield, was recovering from a hip operation. Mother of four Ms Walsh, from Droylsden, Greater Manchester, said: “No one told me she’d been moved so I went into the room to visit her, the same room she’d been in all week. “Mum’s duffle coat was on the chair. The woman in the bed had grey hair and had thin bones like my mum. She had a pink nightie like my mum. I had no reason to think it wasn’t mum. “She didn’t look right and I didn’t think she was breathing. I went out of the room to ask one of the nurses what was wrong and they said ‘don’t you know? She died half-an-hour ago’. “Well, I just lost it then. I’d only spoken to her the previous night. I was in shock and completely hysterical. They were trying to calm me down. The nurses were saying I should stroke her hand and show her some love. So I was holding her hand and stroking her. I called my sister and told her she was dead. “Then one of them said ‘Roy’s on his way’ and I said ‘who’s Roy?’. They took me into another room and said ‘that’s not your mum’. They took me to my mum on another ward and she was sitting in a chair looking at me, saying ‘what’s up?’ I told her I’d had a shock. I couldn’t really tell her ‘they just told me you’re dead’.” Oh my days!

On This Day

• 1859 – The first modern revival of the Olympic Games takes place in Athens, Greece.
• 1971 – Intel releases the world’s first commercial single-chip microprocessor, the 4004.
• 2007 – Cyclone Sidr hits Bangladesh, killing an estimated 5,000 people and destroying parts of the world’s largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans.

Deaths

• 1630 – Johannes Kepler, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1571)
• 1983 – John Le Mesurier, English actor (b. 1912)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Neil Young (70), Tracy Morgan (47), Whoopi Goldberg (60), Leonardo DiCaprio (41), Demi Moore (53), Ryan Gosling (35), Anne Hathaway (33), Jimmy Kimmel (48), Prince Charles (67), Calista Flockhart (51), Gerard Butler (46), Tara Reid (40), Stanley Tucci (55), Gordon Ramsay (49), Jack Osbourne (30), Gretchen Mol (43), Lou Ferrigno (64), Wallace Shawn (72) and Condoleezza Rice (61).

Next week peeps!

15th November 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 8th November 2015

Afternoon all, yet another rendition of the newsletter in your inbox. Alas, no points to award this week, but some interesting deaths and plenty of news to catch up on.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Stephen Hancock, 89, English actor (Coronation Street).
• Fred Thompson, 73, American politician and actor (Die Hard 2, Law & Order, Sinister), U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1994–2003), minority counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee, lymphoma.
• Colin Welland, 81, British actor and screenwriter (Kes, Straw Dogs, Chariots of Fire), Oscar winner (1982).
• Melissa Mathison, 65, American screenwriter (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Black Stallion, Kundun), neuroendocrine cancer.
• George Barris, 89, American custom car designer (Batmobile, Munster Koach), cancer.
• Gunnar Hansen, 68, Icelandic-born American actor (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Leatherface), pancreatic cancer.

In Other News

Andy Cole has withdrawn from an upcoming charity match at Old Trafford and the former Manchester United striker revealed he has been suffering from kidney failure. The 44-year-old, who won five Premier League titles and the Champions League during a trophy-laden spell with United, said he is not well enough to play in the Unicef Match for Children, which will take place on 14th November. “In June of this year I suffered kidney failure, caused as a result of contracting an airborne virus and I have been under medical care ever since,” Cole said in a statement. “I was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with a condition called Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis.” Cole said he had spent close to three weeks in hospital undergoing a kidney biopsy and dialysis, and he is continuing on a course of steroids which has led to a slight change in his appearance. 0_o

In further football news, Tony Adams revealed he has undergone minor heart surgery in Azerbaijan, an operation the former Arsenal defender said had saved his life. Adams, who is director of football at Gabala in Azerbaijan, went under the knife after becoming unwell. “After feeling some acute chest pain while exercising in Azerbaijan, and liaising with Gabala club doctors, I went to the Medical Plaza hospital in Baku where I was admitted for an angiogram, and then following diagnosis of a severely blocked vein, an immediate angioplasty,” Adams said. “I know full well that without the brilliance of Dr Uzeyir Rahimov and his team I would not be alive now: a minor heart operation saved my life.” Adams, 49, is said to be recuperating with his family in the UK.

Trevor Noah, who took over as host of The Daily Show in September, has undergone emergency surgery to remove his appendix. Comedy Central cancelled Wednesday’s live show and aired a repeat, but said “the procedure went well” and Noah was “currently recuperating from surgery”. “We expect he and the show will be back with an original episode tomorrow,” said a statement on Twitter. However, Noah’s experience of US healthcare has already come under the microscope. Criticising the amount of paperwork he was asked to fill out before being attended to while in excruciating pain, Noah said, “I don’t know if ‘Emergency Room’ is the right term, because they make you wait … The lady’s like, ‘Can you fill out the form?’ I’m like, ‘Well, no, I’m dying.’” After Noah nearly fainted, he says the woman followed him to ask how he would be paying for the surgery, asking if he had health insurance (which he wasn’t sure about). Questioning whether he would be able to afford paying for the procedure without insurance, she answered her own question: “You know what, I’ve seen the billboards, you’re fine, you can pay for this.” Thank god for the NHS!

Trainer Gary Moore is out of intensive care as he recovers from being kicked in the back by one of his horses. The 59-year-old was helping wife Jayne onto a horse at their Cisswood Stables in Sussex on Thursday morning when another horse kicked out. Moore, whose sons Ryan, Jamie and Joshua are all jockeys, spent Thursday night in intensive care with fluid on his lungs and damaged ribs. “He’s a bit groggy, but nothing worse than that,” said Joshua Moore. “I think he’s pretty OK. He’s out of intensive care. He’s having a lot of antibiotics and painkillers, but he doesn’t need any operations or anything like that, as far as I know.”

Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher is “still fighting”, almost two years after suffering severe head injuries in a skiing accident, says FIA president Jean Todt. Schumacher spent six months in an induced coma after the December 2013 accident and is continuing his rehabilitation at home. “Michael’s a close friend,” said Todt. “His family is very close to me. We must keep him fighting with the family,” he added. So, no real news then…

On This Day

• 1745 – Charles Edward Stuart invades England with an army of ~5000 that would later participate in the Battle of Culloden.
• 1895 – While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray.
• 1960 – John F. Kennedy defeats Richard Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections of the twentieth century to become the 35th president of the United States.
• 1965 – The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 is given Royal Assent, formally abolishing the death penalty in the United Kingdom.
• 1973 – The right ear of John Paul Getty III is delivered to a newspaper together with a ransom note, convincing his father to pay US$2.9 million.
• 1987 – Remembrance Day bombing: A Provisional IRA bomb explodes in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland during a ceremony honouring those who had died in wars involving British forces. Twelve people are killed and sixty-three wounded.

Deaths

• 1674 – John Milton, English poet and philosopher (b. 1608)
• 1887 – Doc Holliday, American dentist and poker player (b. 1851)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Emma Stone (27), Ethan Hawke (45), Sally Field (69), Lamar Odom (36), Matthew McConaughey (46), Roseanne Barr (58), David Schwimmer (59), Jenny McCarthy (43), Toni Collette (43), Loretta Swit (78), Ralph Macchio (54), Tatum O’Neal (52), Billy Graham (97), Joni Mitchell (72), Maria Schriver (60), Rebecca Romjin (43), Thandie Newton (43), Sam Rockwell (47), Tilda Swinton (55), Bryan Adams (56), Art Garfunkel (74), Larry Flynt (73), Lyle Lovett (58), K.D. Lang (54), Kate Capshaw (62), Adam Ant (61), Dolph Lundgren (58) and Famke Janssen (51).

Next week peeps!

8th November 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 1st November 2015

Welcome all to the special “Day After Halloween” edition of the Dead Pool. Yes, we’re all partied out and have a hangover, so other than to award a few points, I’ll not ramble on too much. With the death of Al Molinaro, we award 54 points to Dave, well done that man. Which makes things very interesting at the top of the table. I shall take this opportunity to say thank you for the birthday wishes, I made it another year, with any luck I might be able to carry on with the Dead Pool next year too!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

Sam Sarpong, 40, British-born American model and actor (Love Don’t Cost a Thing, Farm House, Anchor Baby), suicide by jumping.

Al Molinaro, 96, American actor (Happy Days), complications from infected gall bladder.

In Other News

Comedian Bob Mortimer has undergone a triple bypass heart operation. The star, known for being one half of comedy duo Vic and Bob alongside Vic Reeves, has had to cancel the first leg of the pair’s upcoming tour. Mortimer, 56, had been due to take to the stage in Glasgow in early November for 25 Years of Reeves & Mortimer: the Poignant Moments. Neil Reading, Mortimer’s spokesman, said: “Bob would like to thank his consultant and all the nursing staff at the hospital for looking after him so well. “He now needs several weeks to fully recover, so unfortunately the first leg of the UK tour will be cancelled. “Bob very much hopes to be fit and well enough to perform the second leg in January next year.”

The BBC news presenter, George Alagiah, has said that his treatment for cancer is over, and expressed thanks for the “thoughts, prayers and support” he has received. The journalist, a popular face of the BBC Six O’Clock News, shared the news on Twitter on Wednesday after it emerged last April that he was to receive treatment for bowel cancer. “A long time coming but the cancer treatment is finally over. Now I can look forward again. Thank you for thoughts, prayers and support,” he said. The corporation said last year that Alagiah was to undergo treatment, but “is optimistic for a positive outcome”. The newsreader, who joined the BBC in 1989 and became a foreign correspondent specialising in Africa, is expected now to make a phased return to work.

Phil Collins has confirmed he will return to making music after a 13-year break, with new recording sessions beginning next month. Collins hasn’t released brand new music since 2002 album Testify, though did release a Motown covers album in 2010. But in a new interview in Rolling Stone, he declares: “I’m no longer officially retired. The horse is out of the stable and I’m raring to go.” In 2011 he announced his retirement, “so I can be a full time father to my two young sons on a daily basis” – this was following his third divorce in 2008, from Orianne Cevey, who eventually took their sons to live with her in Miami while he remained in Switzerland. In the Rolling Stone interview he said the period “left me with a lot of time on my hands to think about what happened. I went through a few bits of darkness; drinking too much. I killed my hours watching TV and drinking, and it almost killed me. But I haven’t had a drink in three years.” He also has had to go through surgery, after nerve damage suffered on a Genesis reunion tour in 2007 left him unable to play the drums. Let’s see how he copes with his comeback, we all know what happened to Michael Jackson!

And finally, a dog named Trigger accidentally shot his owner during a hunt in the US. The chocolate Labrador retriever stepped on top of a 12-gauge shotgun on the ground without the safety on, and shot Allie Carter in the left foot. Indiana conservation officer Jonathon Boyd says 25-year-old Allie Carter laid her shotgun on the ground without the safety on during a waterfowl hunt Saturday at Tri-County Fish and Wildlife Area. Boyd says Carter’s chocolate Labrador retriever, Trigger, stepped on top of the shotgun and depressed the trigger. He says Carter was shot in the left foot at point-blank range, suffering injuries to her foot and toes. She was treated at two hospitals and released. Even American dogs are batshit crazy!

On This Day

• 1512 – The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.
• 1520 – The Strait of Magellan, the passage immediately south of mainland South America connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, is first discovered and navigated by European explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the first recorded circumnavigation voyage.
• 1800 – John Adams becomes the first President of the United States to live in the Executive Mansion (later renamed the White House).
• 1896 – A picture showing the bare breasts of a woman appears in National Geographic magazine for the first time.
• 1951 – Operation Buster–Jangle: Six thousand five hundred American soldiers are exposed to ‘Desert Rock’ atomic explosions for training purposes in Nevada. Participation is not voluntary.
• 1993 – The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.

Deaths

• 1952 – Dixie Lee. American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1911)
• 1979 – Mamie Eisenhower, American wife of Dwight D. Eisenhower, 36th First Lady of the United States (b. 1896)
• 1982 – King Vidor, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894)
• 1985 – Phil Silvers, American actor and singer (b. 1911)
• 2007 – Meredith Kercher, English murder victim (b. 1985)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Katy Perry (31), Richard Dreyfuss (68), Julia Roberts (48), Henry Winkler (70), Caitlyn Jenner (66), Hillary Clinton (68), Winona Ryder (44), Seth McFarlane (42),  Vanilla Ice (48), John Cleese (76), Emilia Clarke (29), Joaquin Phoenix (41), Simon LeBon (57), Bill Gates (60), Diego Maradona (55), Dan Castellaneta (58), Kelly Osbourne (31), Cary Elwes (53), Peter Jackson (54), Nancy Cartwright (58), Jon Heder (38), Annie Potts (53) and Rufus Sewell (48).

Next week peeps!

1st November 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 25th October 2015

Welcome minions of the macabre, we have some points to award!! Congratulations to Wombat, Sophie and Sylvia, who correctly guessed that Maureen O’Hara would finally kick the bucket this year, 55 points each!! Quite surprising that only three of us listed her, she’s been a stalwart of the Dead Pool for years, perhaps many of you began to think she was going to live forever, like poor Shân mentioned in her email. Otherwise a quiet week death-wise, however it might be time to revisit Coronation Street for next year, there are plenty of ex-stars just waiting to be listed!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Michael Meacher, 75, British politician, MP for Oldham West (1970–1997) and Oldham West and Royton (since 1997).
• Cory Wells, 74, American singer (Three Dog Night).
• Peter Baldwin, 82, British actor (Coronation Street).
• Kirsty Howard, 20, British fundraiser.
• Maureen O’Hara, 95, Irish-American actress (Miracle on 34th Street, The Quiet Man, How Green Was My Valley).

In Other News

Dutch legend Johan Cruyff has lung cancer, according to reports in Spain. The 68-year-old – who won three successive European Cups with Ajax before going on to play for and manage Barcelona – was diagnosed last Tuesday, it was reported on Spanish radio station RAC1 and Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo on Thursday morning. A statement on his official website said the cancer had been discovered following recent tests in Barcelona. “Over the past weeks, Johan Cruyff has been undergoing medical examinations at a hospital in Barcelona. During these examinations, lung cancer has been uncovered. The examinations are still ongoing,” the statement said. “To respect the privacy of Johan and his family, and the fact that the examinations have not been finalised, further announcements cannot be made at the moment.” Formerly a heavy smoker, he had double heart bypass surgery in 1991 while he was still in charge of Barcelona, a role he eventually left in 1996. In his prime, Cruyff was considered one of the world’s greatest players in the world at a time when Pelé, George Best and Franz Beckenbauer could all lay claim to the title. Let’s see if his former fitness makes a difference now.

Also in Cancer news, Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh says he has bladder cancer and will have to postpone concerts in California later this month. The guitarist made the announcement on the website for his restaurant in San Rafael, California.  He said he was diagnosed earlier this month and has been treated at a clinic in Arizona, where he will have surgery to remove his tumours. The illness means Lesh has had to postpone his shows on the 24th and 25th October. The gigs with the former Black Crowes frontman were scheduled to take place at Lesh’s restaurant, Terrapin Crossroads. Lesh, 75, wrote: “I am very fortunate to have the pathology reports show that the tumours are all non-aggressive, and that there is no indication that they have spread.” He added that the postponed shows would be rescheduled “as soon as we can”. Lesh, one of the founding members of the Grateful Dead, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006 but underwent surgery and made a full recovery.

The Vatican has rejected as “seriously irresponsible” an Italian newspaper report that Pope Francis has a small but curable tumour on his brain. The Quotidiano newspaper said the Pope had travelled by helicopter to Tuscany to see a world-renowned Japanese brain surgeon. The Pope was diagnosed with a small, dark spot but did not need surgery, the paper said. A Vatican spokesman said the report was totally unfounded. “As everyone can see, the Pope is carrying out his extremely intense activities in an absolutely normal manner,” Father Federico Lombardi said. Quotidiano insisted that its story was true, maintaining that the Pope had visited Prof Takanori Fukushima some months ago at the San Rossore clinic in the Barbaricina area of Pisa. It quoted an unnamed employee at the clinic saying such a small tumour could be treated and did not need any kind of surgical intervention. The paper’s editor, Andrea Cangini, said the denial was understandable and had been expected. Earlier this year, Pope Francis, 78, indicated his papacy may last only a few years, and that he might retire like his predecessor Benedict XVI, who stepped down as pontiff in 2013, which sounds like his brain tumour diagnosis may be be true!

Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker has said he offered friends $1m to kill him after a plane crash that left him badly burned. In September 2008, Barker was one of the passengers aboard a Learjet that crashed while taking off from Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina. Four of the six people on the plane died, while the other two – Barker and Adam Goldstein, who worked together in the group TRV$DJAM – were badly burned. Goldstein died a little under a year later of a drug overdose, from a combination of cocaine and prescription drugs given to him after the crash. Barker spent four months in hospital, undergoing surgery 27 times, after being burned across 65% of his body. He appeared on ABC News and said he had pleaded with friends to take his life. “I would call friends of mine and go, ‘You know, I’ll deposit a million dollars into whoever’s bank account.’ [Hospital staff] had to take my phone out of my room.” Anyone feeling that their pockets are a bit empty should contact his agent.

For those of you who give a shit, according to search warrant records, Lamar Odom is believed to have overdosed on cocaine and other drugs before he was found unconscious in a Nevada brothel. On Wednesday, Odom and the reality TV star Khloe Kardashian filed a court petition dismissing a divorce filing from December 2013. A clerk granted the request in such a way that the divorce papers can be refiled at a later date, making sure that she get’s any money due her as a wife if he dies, and making sure she can divorce I’m if he survives. Let’s hope he survives so we can see him prosecuted for soliciting prostitutes and taking Class A drugs.

On This Day

• 1415 – The army of Henry V of England defeats the French at the Battle of Agincourt.
• 1760 – George III becomes King of Great Britain.
• 1854 – The Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War (Charge of the Light Brigade).
• 1917 – Traditionally understood date of the October Revolution, involving the capture of the Winter Palace, Petrograd, Russia.

Deaths

• 1400 – Geoffrey Chaucer, English philosopher, poet, and author (b. 1343)
• 1993 – Vincent Price, American actor and singer (b. 1911)
• 2002 – Richard Harris, Irish-English actor and singer (b. 1930)
• 2004 – John Peel, English radio host and producer (b. 1939)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Bristol Palin (25), Jean-Claude Van Damme (55), Zac Efron (28), Trey Parker (46), Evander Holyfield (53), Tom Petty (65), Viggo Mortensen (57), Snoop Dogg (44), Danni Minogue (44), Judge Judy (73), Carrie Fisher (59), Kim Kardashian (35), Ken Watanabe (56), Christopher Lloyd (77), Catherine Deneuve (72), Jeff Goldblum (63), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (40), Ang Lee (61), Weird Al Yankovic (56), Cat Deeley (39), Ryan Reynolds (39), Pele (75), Bill Wyman (79), F. Murray Abraham (76) and Kevin Kline (68).

Next week peeps!

25th October 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 18th October 2015

Good afternoon minions! A reasonably quiet week to report upon, no points to award and precious few celebrities have kicked the bucket. But Winter is coming, and if previous years are anything to go by, the cold snap works wonders.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Richard Davies, 89, Welsh character actor (Please Sir!, Zulu), Alzheimer’s disease.
• Joan Leslie, 90, American actress (High Sierra, Sergeant York, Yankee Doodle Dandy).
• George Mueller, 97, American space engineer, Associate Administrator of the NASA Office of Manned Space Flight (1963–1969).
• Bruce Hyde, 74, American educator and actor (Star Trek), throat cancer.
• Sue Lloyd-Roberts, 64, British television journalist (BBC, ITN), leukaemia.
• Andrew Rubin, 69, American actor (Police Academy, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman), lung cancer.
• Howard Kendall, 69, English football player and manager (Blackburn Rovers, Everton).

In Other News

Singer Dolly Parton has issued a statement denying she has stomach cancer,  following reports in the US that she was rushed to hospital. The 69-year-old country star made the declaration following a story in the National Enquirer that she had been rushed to hospital. “There is absolutely no truth at all that I have stomach cancer,” the statement on her website said. “It is true that I had kidney stones,” she said. “I had them removed three weeks ago and I am doing just fine!” Parton added that she was already back at work following the operation. “I am back to work and last week I was at Dollywood filming parts for my new movie Coat of Many Colours,” she wrote. “I love and appreciate everyone’s concern.” So that’s us told!

A spokeswoman for Lamar Odom’s said that the NBA star has woken up and talked, three days after being found unconscious at a Nevada  brothel. Odom had been unconscious at a Las Vegas hospital since being found Tuesday at the Love Ranch brothel in Crystal, Nevada. Authorities are still retracing Odom’s $75,000, three-day visit to the brothel that started late afternoon Saturday, with blood test results to determine what caused his medical episode still pending. The brothel’s owner said that he chose two women to accompany him in a VIP suite on his first visit to the ranch. Odom had said that he had taken cocaine before his arrival, and the brothel said they saw him drink alcohol and take as many as 10 supplements sold as “herbal Viagra”. The brothel also said he became upset on Sunday following a phone call where his former wife’s television show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, was mentioned. But he was generally in a good mood, even suggesting that he stay an entire week at the brothel in the rural community. Odom was then found unconscious on Tuesday with white and reddish substances coming from his nose and mouth. He was breathing and taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas. Classy bloke!

Sir John Hurt has said he’s overjoyed and thrilled after being given the all-clear by doctors less than four months after he disclosed that he had pancreatic cancer. The 75-year-old actor, known for his roles in The Elephant Man, Nineteen Eighty-Four and the Harry Potter films, revealed he had overcome the disease to an audience at the Man Booker prize ceremony in London. “I had a final scan and it’s all gone brilliantly, I had the final scan yesterday and I saw my oncologist this morning. I am overjoyed, I am thrilled. It all looks great for the future, it’s fantastic.” Hurt had first revealed his cancer diagnosis in June, but said at the time he was “more than optimistic” about his future and kept working during his chemotherapy treatment.

Placido Domingo is to have surgery to have his gallbladder removed, forcing him to miss conducting engagements at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. “It is expected this minimally invasive procedure will allow him to resume his activities after a brief hospital stay,” the Met said in a statement. Domingo had been due to conduct four performances of Tosca in October, but will now return on 2nd November. The 74-year-old was admitted to hospital on Tuesday after suffering inflammation of his gallbladder and will have an operation early next week. He has had a number of health problems in recent years. In 2010, he underwent an operation to remove a cancerous polyp from his colon, returning to performing just weeks after the surgery. And in 2013 he was treated for a blood clot in his lung, forcing him to miss several concerts.

The world’s most-wanted drug boss, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, narrowly evaded security forces searching for him in the north-west of Mexico in recent days, sustaining injuries to his face and leg, the Mexican government said on Friday. Guzmán, the head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, escaped from his high-security prison cell in July through a specially dug tunnel, causing a major embarrassment for the Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto. In a statement, the Mexican government said it had worked with international agencies to capture Guzmán, and that in recent weeks, efforts had been focused on the north-west of the country, not far from Guzmán’s native turf of Sinaloa state. “As a result of these actions, and to avoid his capture, in recent days, the fugitive engaged in a hasty retreat, which, according to the information received, caused him injuries to one leg and the face,” the government statement said.

The BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire has thanked NHS staff in a video diary recorded soon after she underwent a mastectomy to treat cancer. In a short clip, which was posted on the Victoria Derbyshire Show’s Facebook site, Derbyshire holds up two pieces of paper with handwritten messages on them. “This morning I had breast cancer,” read on the first. “This evening I don’t,” read the second. “I feel all right. I can’t believe it. The NHS staff have been awesome. I am completely in awe of them. They are so inspiring and so caring and I feel so grateful to them,” says Derbyshire from her hospital bed. Derbyshire, who has presented on BBC radio and television, announced the news of the diagnosis in August. Doctors detected her condition the previous month.

And finally, the son of the peer Lord Lucan, who disappeared almost 41 years ago, has applied to have his father declared “presumed dead”. Lord Lucan vanished from his family home in London in 1974 following the death of family nanny Sandra Rivett. An inquest found he murdered her. There has since been speculation and stories about what happened to him. His son, George Bingham, told the West End Extra newspaper the application would provide “closure”. Despite the fact Lord Lucan was officially declared dead by the High Court in 1999, there have been reported sightings of him in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand, and even claims he lived in India as a hippy called “Jungly Barry”. Mr Bingham, who was a child when his father disappeared, told West End Extra he was applying to the High Court under the Presumption of Death Act, which came into effect a year ago. He said the 1999 declaration had not proved death “for all purposes” and the new law allowed for a “more complete process”. The Presumption of Death Act was the result of a campaign supported by relatives of high-profile missing people including chef Claudia Lawrence, who disappeared in York in 2009, and Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards, who went missing in 1995. So, technically Lord Lucan is still alive for our purposes.

On This Day

• 1851 – Herman Melville‘s Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.
• 1867 – United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day.
• 1922 – The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) is founded by a consortium, to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service.
• 1945 – Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón marries actress Eva “Evita” Duarte.
• 1954 – Texas Instruments announces the first Transistor radio.
• 1968 – The U.S. Olympic Committee suspends Tommie Smith and John Carlos for giving a “Black Power” salute during a victory ceremony at the Mexico City games.

Deaths

• 1931 – Thomas Edison, American inventor and businessman, invented the light bulb and phonograph (b. 1847)
• 2007 – Alan Coren, English journalist and author (b. 1938)
• 2012 – Sylvia Kristel, Dutch model, actress, and singer (b. 1952)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Eminem (43), Angela Lansbury (90), Tim Robbins (57), Usher (37), Sacha Baron Cohen (44), Marie Osmond (56), Paul Simon (74), Hugh Jackman (47), Jane Krakowski (47), Emily Deschanel (39), Roger Moore (88), Ralph Lauren (76), Suzanne Somers (69), George Wendt (67), Wyclef Jean (46), Sarah Ferguson (56), Dominic West (46), Steve Coogan (50), Michelle Trachtenberg (30), Stephen Moyer (46), Cliff Richard (75) and Ernie Els (46).

Next week peeps!

18th October 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 11th October 2015

My goodness! What a week for deaths! Those evil flying monkeys have certainly been very busy!! Alas, even with so many household names on todays roster, nobody managed to score. But I have to add that Liz also scored last week with Denis Healey, I missed it because his name was misspelt. So in the interest of clarity for next year, please make sure you spell their names correctly, otherwise my search will miss you out. I do sympathise though, who the hell spells Dennis as Denis!!!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Larry Brezner, 73, American film producer (Good Morning Vietnam, Throw Momma From the Train, Ride Along).
• Henning Mankell, 67, Swedish author (Kurt Wallander), cancer.
• Jim Diamond, 64, Scottish singer-songwriter (“I Should Have Known Better”).
• Hugh Scully, 72, British television presenter (Antiques Roadshow).
• Gordon Honeycombe, 79, British newscaster, author and actor, leukemia.
• Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, 88, British politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1979–1983), Foreign Secretary (1983–1989), heart attack.
• Jerry Parr, 85, American Secret Service agent, extricated Ronald Reagan during assassination attempt, heart failure. 

In Other News

Sir Bruce Forsyth has suffered a fall at his home. The 87-year-old TV personality suffered cuts and a minor concussion but is otherwise unhurt. He underwent a series of scans and tests and was advised by doctors to have complete rest for at least a week. Forsyth had to pull out of hosting his BBC variety show Bruce’s Hall of Fame at London’s Dominion Theatre this weekend. The star was set to take to the stage alongside comedian Catherine Tate and Pointless presenter Alexander Armstrong, who will now take on the compere role. In a statement, Kalooki Pictures, who co-produce the show, said: “This morning, Sir Bruce Forsyth slipped and fell at his home resulting in facial abrasions and minor concussion. “He attended hospital and had a series of scans and tests all of which happily proved negative. However because of his injury, he has been told by doctors he must have complete rest for at least seven days.” Speaking after his fall, Forsyth said: “I was really looking forward to this show and working with such a talented cast, and I am really sad not to be part of it. It is now in the most capable hands of Alexander Armstrong and I would like to wish him, the guests and the whole production team good luck on Sunday.”

In the first of a new series on living with leukaemia, Clive James is surprised to find he’s still here! He writes: “A whole year ago I wrote a poem called Japanese Maple, which confidently stated that when the maple tree in my garden turned to flame in autumn, that would be the end of me. The poem was published in the New Yorker, at a time when the magazine’s paywall was temporarily out of commission, so a lot of people logged on. The poem went viral and attracted many sad assurances of fond farewell. Autumn came, the tree turned red and I was still here, steadily turning red myself as I realised that I had written myself into a corner. Winter arrived, there has been a whole other summer, and now the maple is just starting to do its flaming thing all over again, with me shyly watching.” Looks like he’ll be here for a good while yet!

Britain is the best place in the world to die, according to a new survey. Finally, some good news. Britons may have terrible weather, bad teeth, an underperforming rugby team, stupid telly, no style, a countryside that consists of car parks with puddles and cities so divertingly rubbish that they look as though they were devised by drunk chimps on a bet. The UK may, in short, be an awful place to live. But, according to a survey, the UK is the best place in the world in which to die. At least we’re good at something. So the next time you’re drinking a whiskey whilst watching Countdown, take heart that your body will be found and  dealt with accordingly as Britain does Death the best!

On This Day

• 1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
• 1910 – Former President Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane. He flew for four minutes with Arch Hoxsey in a plane built by the Wright brothers at Kinloch Field.
• 1968 – Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 7, the first successful manned Apollo mission, with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn F. Eisele and Walter Cunningham aboard.
• 1975 – The NBC sketch comedy/variety show Saturday Night Live debuts with George Carlin as the host and Andy Kaufman, Janis Ian and Billy Preston as guests.
• 1982 – The Mary Rose, a Tudor carrack which sank on July 19, 1545, is salvaged from the sea bed of the Solent, off Portsmouth.
• 1984 – Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a space walk.
• 2001 – The Polaroid Corporation files for federal bankruptcy protection.

Deaths

• 1961 – Chico Marx, American actor and singer (b. 1887)
• 1963 – Jean Cocteau, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1889)
• 2000 – Donald Dewar, Scottish lawyer and politician, 1st First Minister of Scotland (b. 1937)
• 2007 – Werner von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (b. 1915)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Dakota Johnson (26), Susan Sarandon (69), Liev Schreiber (48), Alecia Silverstone (39), Brian Johnson (68), Karen Allen (64), Bob Geldoff (64), Lena Headey (45), Kate Winslet (40), Jesse Eisenberg (32), Britt Ekland (73), Elizabeth Shue (52), Simon Cowell (55), Toni Braxton (48), Thom Yorke (7), Desmond Tutu (84), Vladimir Putin (63), Paul Hogan (75), Chevy Chase (72), Sigourney Weaver (66), Matt Damon (45), Bruno Mars (30), Rev. Jesse Jackson (74), Sharon Osbourne (63), Tony Shalhoub (62), Scott Bakula (61) and Sean Lennon (40).

Next Week peeps!

11th October 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 4th October 2015

Welcome all, finally some points to award!!! With the death of the Labour giant Denis Healey, 52 points have been awarded thusly: Karen, Paul, Julie and Shan. Well done all of you, please take a look at the leader board, you will see that Paul is now cementing his lead at the top, but all it takes is the death of one of the Big Three to bring any of you back into the game!  So onwards with the newsletter, I promise not to mention the death of English rugby…

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• John Guillermin, 89, British film director and producer (The Towering Inferno, King Kong, Shaft in Africa), heart attack
• Catherine E. Coulson, 71, American film and television actress (Twin Peaks), cancer.
• Donald Seawell, 103, American theatre producer and newspaper publisher.
• Denis Healey, 98, British politician, Secretary of State for Defence (1964-1970), Chancellor of the Exchequer (1974-1979).

In Other News

As everyone in their right mind knows, you’ve got to know when to walk away and when to run. And Kenny Rogers, the man who sang The Gambler, is heeding his own advice by announcing that he will retire after his next tour. The 77-year-old country legend wants to spend time with is wife and family before he dies. The country legend appeared on the Today show in the US, where he said: “I’ve done this long enough. There’s a fine line between being driven and being selfish, and I think I crossed that line when I was younger. I really want to be there with my kids and my wife. I don’t see enough of them. And I have some things on my bucket list.” Let’s hope that reversing his plastic surgery is on that list, seriously, he gives me nightmares!

In another retirement story, Ralph Lauren is giving the fashion empire he founded almost five decades ago a makeover – by stepping down as chief executive. However, Lauren is not going too far: he will remain with the company as executive chairman and chief creative officer. Born Ralph Lifshitz to Jewish immigrants from Belarus in the Bronx in 1939, Lauren changed his last name at the age of 16. He began his fashion career designing ties in 1967, with the Ralph Lauren polo shirt bearing the familiar logo following five years later. Now the 75 year old is reputed to be worth $6.4 billion, not bad for a one design wonder!

Jim Carrey has said he is shocked and deeply saddened after a former girlfriend is thought to have killed herself. Cathriona White, 30, an Irish-born makeup artist, was found dead in her Los Angeles apartment on Monday night, the deputy chief coroner Ed Winter said. Nobody blames her, I suspect shagging Carey would be a nightmare beyond all comprehension. The death was reported to authorities as a suicide but a final determination had yet to be made but a drug overdose is suspected. The celebrity website TMZ said White and Carrey, 53, met in 2012, had an on-and-off romance, and rekindled their relationship in May before splitting up last week. So it’s his fault!

The cause of death of Bobbi Kristina Brown – Whitney Houston’s daughter – has been determined, but officials say they will not reveal the post-mortem results. They say a court in the US state of Georgia ordered a medical examiner to seal the results. Bobbi Kristina, 22, died at a hospice on 26th July, six months after she was found unresponsive in a bath in her Atlanta flat. In a statement, the Fulton county medical examiner said Bobbi Kristina’s post-mortem results would not be publicly released on the order of the Fulton county superior court. “The Fulton County medical examiner has classified the cause and manner of Bobbi Kristina Brown’s death,” it said. Which now opens up many questions, was she killed and has it all been hushed up??

Harry Potter, the boy who lived, has died! Caio César Ignácio Cardoso de Melo, 27, who voiced the character in Portuguese, was reportedly killed on Thursday during an exchange of gunfire in Complexo de Alemão – one of Rio’s largest and most policed shanty towns. He provided the Portuguese voiceover for Potter in all eight films in the series, as a side venture to his main job as a police officer. According to local media reports, his death was confirmed by military police in Brazil and by Warner Bros studios. J.K. Rowling tweeted her condolences following the father-of-one’s death. Local police reported that Melo was shot in the neck when officers came under fire during a routine patrol of the sprawling shanty town. He was taken to hospital and underwent surgery but died from his injuries.

The German sports car manufacturer Porsche has issued a statement denying responsibility for the death of Fast & Furious star Paul Walker, who died in a high-speed crash in November 2013. Porsche released its statement to the media in response to a wrongful death lawsuit filed on 28th September by the actor’s daughter Meadow Walker in Los Angeles. “As we have said before, we are very sad whenever anyone is hurt in a Porsche vehicle, but we believe the authorities’ reports in this case clearly establish that this tragic crash resulted from reckless driving and excessive speed,” the manufacturer said. Meadow Walker claims in her suit that Porsche knew the car model had a “history of instability and control issues”. It is understood she is also questioning police reports that suggest the Carrera GT was travelling at around 90mph when the accident happened, arguing that the top speed reached by the vehicle was in fact just 71mph, which is obviously a safe speed. Way to go to tarnish your fathers demise you tart!

And finally, in a warning to all dog walkers, an Essex man has died after his dog dragged him into the path of an oncoming car. The 67-year-old was walking his dog in the Low Road area of Dovercourt on Monday night when it suddenly bolted on to the street. A car travelling on the road then struck the man, who suffered head injuries in the incident. He went home but later felt increasingly unwell. East of England ambulance service personnel attended the man’s home and transferred him to Colchester hospital, where he later died. The dog was not harmed in the incident. A neighbour said the man, who was thought to be retired, would take the animal for a walk every morning and evening. Moral of the story, get a cat!

On This Day

• 1535 – The first complete English-language Bible (the Coverdale Bible) is printed, with translations by William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale.
• 1582 – Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15.
• 1883 – First run of the Orient Express.
• 1957 – Space Race: Launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.
• 2004 – SpaceShipOne wins Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight, by being the first private craft to fly into space.

Deaths

• 1669 – Rembrandt, Dutch painter and illustrator (b. 1606)
• 1947 – Max Planck, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)
• 1970 – Janis Joplin, American singer-songwriter (Big Brother and the Holding Company) (b. 1943)
• 1989 – Graham Chapman, English actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1941)
• 2010 – Norman Wisdom, English singer-songwriter, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1915)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Gwyneth Paltrow (43), Meat Loaf (68), Lil Wayne (33), Avril Lavigne (31), Naomi Watts (47), Dita Von Tesse (43), Jerry Lee Lewis (80), Ian McShane (73), Erika Eleniak (46), Johnny Mathis (80), Monica Bellucci (51), Kieran Culkin (33), Martina Hingis (35), Julie Andrews (80), Zack Galifianakis (46), Don McLean (70), Jimmy Carter (91), Sting (64), Annie Leibovitz (66), Chubby Checker (74), Roy Horn (71), Gwen Stefani (46), Neve Campbell (42), Sean William Scott (39), Clive Owen (51), Fred Couples (56), Lena Headey (42) and Brigitte Bardot (81).

Next Week peeps!

4th October 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 27th September 2015

Welcome to the bumper two week edition of The Dead  Pool Newsletter, which isn’t as bumper as I would have liked as not many celebs have died in the last two weeks. However, we have plenty of news to get through and I have a good feeling about next week!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Max Beauvoir, 79, Haitian houngan and biochemist.
• Fred DeLuca, 67, American businessman, co-founder of Subway, leukemia.
• Jackie Collins, 77, British-American novelist, breast cancer.
• Brian Sewell, 84, British art critic.
• Jack Larson, 87, American playwright and actor (Adventures of Superman).

In Other News

The Who have been forced to postpone all 50 dates on their north American tour because frontman Roger Daltrey, 71, has viral meningitis. A statement on the Who’s website said the shows would be rescheduled for spring 2016 and added: “The band apologise to fans and realise that the postponement will cause an inconvenience for ticketholders. It wasn’t a decision taken lightly – the Who always give their fans 100% and were never going to compromise the show, but ultimately we had no alternative but to postpone.” Daltrey said: “I am now on the mend and feeling a lot better but I am going to need a considerable time to recover. The doctors tell me I will make a complete recovery, but that I should not do any touring this year.” Paedophile Pete Townshend added: “We are rescheduling all the shows for next spring 2016. Once Roger is completely well, we will come back stronger than ever and Roger and I will give you all a show to remember.”

The Dalai Lama cancelled his US appearances for  October after doctors at Minnesota’s Mayo clinic advised him to rest, his office said on Friday. The 80-year-old Tibetan Buddhist leader was at the clinic in Rochester this week for what was described as a ‘routine check-up’. “The doctors have advised His Holiness to rest for the next several weeks,” his office said on its website Friday. “We deeply regret the inconvenience caused by this decision and apologise to all the people who have worked so hard in organising the visit as well as to the public.” The statement gave no more details about the Dalai Lama’s condition and representatives did not immediately respond to an email seeking additional comment.

In what some would call a Dead Pool meeting of giants, Pope Francis met Cuba’s former President, Fidel Castro, after celebrating Mass in front of tens of thousands of people in Havana. The two men discussed world affairs, religion and who would die first, in what the Vatican called an “informal and friendly” encounter. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi described the meeting between Pope Francis and Fidel Castro, which took place at the former Cuban leader’s home, as low-key with no flying monkeys seen anywhere. Shame that…

Following the last-minute cancellation of live dates last week, the Libertines have issued an official statement explaining that Pete Doherty had suffered a serious anxiety attack before their London show. The band’s scheduled gig at the Electric Ballroom in London on 10th September was called off two hours after the band were meant to be on stage, with a Manchester gig and an appearance on BBC Radio 1 also scrapped. In a statement published on Doherty’s website Albion Rooms, the band say that the decision to cancel the shows came from management “who felt it important to ensure Peter’s welfare is a priority in line with any other ongoing treatment”.

Former Tory cabinet minister Lord Parkinson has retired from the House of Lords. Cecil Parkinson, 84, was first elected as MP for Enfield West in 1970 and served as secretary of state for trade and industry under Margaret Thatcher, who’s thankfully already dead. He was forced to resign as trade secretary in 1983 after revelations that his former secretary, Sara Keays, was pregnant with his child, but went on to serve as secretary of state for energy and transport in later years. He became a member of the House of Lords in 1992 and is the latest to take advantage of new rules allowing peers to retire from the house. And we all know what happens to men who retire!

Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist party (DUP) leader has been discharged from hospital. Peter Robinson, 66, was admitted to Belfast’s Royal Victoria hospital on Saturday after suffering an adverse reaction to prescribed medication. A DUP spokesman confirmed Robinson would be fit enough to attend crucial talks to resolve the political crisis engulfing the powersharing political institutions at Stormont on Monday. In May, Robinson spent four nights at the hospital after suffering a suspected heart attack and had three stents fitted to help the flow of blood. At the time, he blamed his illness on a diet of fast food and lack of exercise, rather than the stress of his job.

The billionaire founder of Phones4U has revealed that his whole family have been struck down by the potentially deadly Lyme disease. Earlier this month John Caudwell told the media of his 20-year-old son Rufus’s long struggle with the disease, which started with “panic attacks, serious agoraphobia and a terror of sickness” before being correctly diagnosed in February. Now Mr Caudwell has admitted that he, his former wife, Kate McFarlane, and their two daughters, Rebekah, 35, and Rhiannon, 27, have all tested positive for Lyme disease as well. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can spread to humans through ticks. There are around 2,000 to 3,000 new cases in England and Wales every year. His estimated £2bn fortune has allowed him to pay for private treatment, which he acknowledges others cannot afford, but his billions still didn’t stop a tick biting him on the arse.

And finally, unsurprisingly there have been more ‘selfie’ related fatalities than shark attack deaths this year. Which begs the question, why are we not culling anyone who pouts into an iPhone? That seemed to be the answer towards the shark problem… This years count now stands at 12 deaths due to Darwinian intervention. One man was mangled in Spain after trying to snap a pic during a bull run, and two Russian men met their demise while photographing themselves with a live grenade. A woman even managed to shoot herself in the head while posing with a gun. Let’s hope the trend continues…

On This Day

• 1066 – William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the River Somme, beginning the Norman conquest of England.
• 1822 – Jean-François Champollion announces that he has deciphered the Rosetta stone.
• 1905 – The physics journal Annalen der Physik received Albert Einstein‘s paper “Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?”, introducing the equation E=mc².
• 1998 – The Google internet search engine retrospectively claims this as its birthday.
• 2005 – After 162 episodes, Tom and Jerry airs its final episode titled, The Karate Guard.

Deaths

• 1979 – Gracie Fields, English-Italian actress and singer (b. 1898)
• 1979 – Jimmy McCulloch, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (One in a Million, Small Faces, Wings, Thunderclap Newman, and The Dukes) (b. 1953)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Sophia Loren (81), Stephen King (68), Bill Murray (65), Faith Hill (48), Ricki Lake (47), Alfonso Ribeiro (44), Liam Gallagher (43), Nick Cave (58), Joan Jett (57), Andrea Bocelli (44), Tom Felton (28), Julio Iglesias (72), Bruce Springsteen (66), Michael Douglas (71), Mark Hamill (64), Michael Madsen (57), Heather Locklear (54), Will Smith (47), Catherine Zeta-Jones (46), Bryan Ferry (70), Olivia Newton-John (67) and Serena Williams (34).

Next Week peeps!

27th September 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 13th September 2015

I’m sorry everyone, fuck all has happened during the last week. I’ll bet you a toenail shaving that you will not have heard of any of this weeks demises! Luckily we have a few news snippets to be getting along with, otherwise we might have had to cancel this weeks edition!!!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Candida Royalle, 64, American pornographic actress, producer and director, ovarian cancer.
• Dickie Moore, 89, American child actor (Our Gang, Sergeant York, Oliver Twist).
• Bryn Merrick, 56, Welsh bassist (The Damned), cancer.
• John Connell, 91, American actor (Young Doctor Malone, Fail Safe, Family Business).

In Other News

King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand is on antibiotics following a fresh blood infection, the palace has revealed. The 87-year-old king, perceived as a near-deity by many Thais, has been in Bangkok’s Siriraj hospital since being readmitted in May but information on his condition has been scarce. In a statement released late on Monday the royal household said Bhumibol had come down with a high fever, chills and low blood pressure last Thursday. “The result of blood checks found that he had an infection in his blood. The result of a chest X-ray found that his right lung was inflamed,” the palace said. “As a result the doctors have given him some antibiotics and saline drip. They have also given him some oxygen.” Bhumibol has been in and out of hospital for much of the last two years and rarely makes public appearances. A day before his latest bout of illness the palace released footage of the wheelchair-bound monarch visiting a shop near the hospital where he is convalescing. Subjects on their knees chanted “Long live the King.”

Mad Men star Jon Hamm and his partner of nearly two decades, film-maker and actor Jennifer Westfeldt, have ended their relationship. Hamm, 44, and Westfeldt, 45, first met in 1997 and became known as one of Hollywood’s most stalwart couples. However, in March 2015, just before Mad Men’s eighth season finale, it emerged that Hamm had completed a course of rehab for alcoholism which must have played a part in the split. If he was drinking before, we’re pretty sure he’ll be quaffing bars dry right now. Let’s see if his liver is strong enough!

Some of you might have noticed that our beloved Queen has managed to hang on to her privileged life for longer than anyone else in British history, even longer than Queen Victoria, and she had an Age named after her! At exactly what time Elizabeth II would overtake her great-great grandmother’s reign of 23,226 days, 16 hours and 23 minutes, remained uncertain as her father, George VI, died in his sleep, but it is thought to be at around 1am. So, using that as a basis, and factoring in leap days in both reigns, Buckingham Palace’s formula plumped for around 5.30pm as a safe bet. But no parties for Queenie, it was “business as usual” as she officially opened the new £294m Scottish Borders Railway.

And finally, an escapologist, who hoped to out-manoeuvre Harry Houdini during a Buried Alive stunt, was left with a broken rib after he failed to break through to the surface almost nine minutes into the daring bid. Antony Britton hoped to escape unaided after being handcuffed and buried in a standard-size grave, under six feet of soil. But the daredevil had to be hauled out by crew members when he lost consciousness and now says he is ‘lucky to be alive’. An anxious audience at Slaithwaite Spa, West Yorks, watched as Mr Britton was rescued, taken to a waiting ambulance and given oxygen, before coming round. Mr Britton said his biggest disappointment was to discover he was just two feet from the surface when he had to be rescued. Antony is only the third person in 100 years to attempt the Buried Alive challenge. Legendary escapologist Harry Houdini, who was known around the world for his elaborate escape routines, failed in 1915 while magician Alan Alan had to be dug out in 1949. They should have left him in there in my opinion!

On This Day

• 1501 – Michelangelo begins work on his statue of David.
• 1609 – Henry Hudson reaches the river that would later be named after him – the Hudson River.
• 1898 – Hannibal Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film.
• 1899 – Henry Bliss is the first person in the United States to be killed in an automobile accident.
• 1956 – The IBM 305 RAMAC is introduced, the first commercial computer to use disk storage.
• 1985 – Super Mario Bros. is released in Japan for the NES

Deaths

• 81 – Titus, Roman emperor (b. 39)
• 1996 – Tupac Shakur, American rapper, producer, and actor (Digital Underground and Outlawz) (b. 1971)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Roger Waters (72), Macy Gray (48), Delores O’Riordan (44), Pippa Middleton (32), Idris Elba (43), Gloria Gaynor (66), Chrissie Hynde (64), Julie Kavner (65), Evan Rachel Wood (28), Martin Freeman (44), Hugh Grant (55), Adam Sandler (49), Rachel Hunter (46), Eric Sonestreet (44), Michael Buble (40), Colin Firth (55), Guy Richie (47), Karel Lagerfeld (82), Brian De Palma (75), Virginia Madsen (54), Moby (50), Ian Holm (84) and Linda Gray (75).

Next Week peeps!

13th September 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »

Dead Pool 6th September 2015

Welcome all, yet another newsletter in your inboxes! There’s a few big names in the list this week, alas no points to award. ’tis a cruel game indeed!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Wes Craven, 76, American film director, writer and producer (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, The Hills Have Eyes), brain cancer.
• Joy Beverley, 91, British singer (Beverley Sisters), stroke.
• Dean Jones, 84, American actor (The Love Bug, Company, Beethoven), Parkinson’s disease.
• Sir Adrian Cadbury, 86, British businessman and rower, chairman of Cadbury.
• Chandra Bahadur Dangi, 75, Nepalese primordial dwarf, shortest man in recorded history, pneumonia.
• Rico Rodriguez, 80, Cuban-born British trombonist (The Specials).
• Alan Steel, 79, Italian bodybuilder and actor (Samson, The Rebel Gladiators, Hercules Against the Moon Men).

In Other News 

Sue Perkins, the comedian and co-host of The Great British Bake Off on BBC2, has revealed that she has been living with a brain tumour for the past eight years. The broadcaster said the benign growth, which is on her pituitary gland, was found during tests which she underwent as part of another BBC show, Supersizers. Perkins, 45, who is in a relationship with the Channel 4 presenter Anna Richardson, also talked about how the tumour prevented her from having children due to its impact on the secretion of reproductive hormones. “We live in a time and place where we think everything is possible,” she said. “I don’t know if I would have gone on to have children. But as soon as someone says you can’t have something, you want it more than anything,” she said. “I’m lucky that it’s benign so it’s not in itself a worrying thing. Sometimes it’s big and makes me mad, and sometimes it’s small and is in the background. Sometimes it screws up my hormones. I have various tests now to make sure the side effects aren’t too onerous.”

Motorhead cancelled a show on Wednesday after a series of abbreviated performances amid renewed health concerns for the famously hard-living frontman, Lemmy. The English rockers left the stage in Austin, Texas, after playing three songs on Tuesday. The 69-year-old Lemmy told the crowd, “I can’t do it,” according to social media postings. The band, who also cancelled or cut short two other recent shows, said they would not perform a scheduled concert on Wednesday in San Antonio. It said Lemmy was suffering from altitude sickness after a performance in the Rocky Mountains state of Colorado. The 40-year-old metal band have won a loyal fan base for their high-decibel guitar rock and Lemmy’s instantly recognisable gravelly voice. Lemmy, also known for his lambchop sideburns and facial moles, was long synonymous with the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle. He has said he used to drink a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey every day and that he has slept with more than 1000 women. But Lemmy has faced a series of health concerns including diabetes in recent years, forcing Motörhead to postpone a European tour in 2013. Lemmy has said he has cut down on drinking and quit smoking.

On Saturday evening, Markus Persson – the creator of Minecraft – overshared on Twitter. In a series of rambling and unabashed tweets, the multi-billionaire revealed that selling his independent gaming company Mojang to Microsoft has left him feeling empty inside. Many will undoubtedly scoff at Persson’s sentiments; they will find it difficult to feel sympathy for a man who cashed a $2.5 billion cheque not 12 months ago. But do Persson’s tweets prove that the age-old maxim – money can never really make you happy – is right? Is instant gratification, wealth and success not all we think it’s cracked up to be? If loneliness and depression is the outcome, then I suppose not!

Two-time major winner John Daly is out of hospital after collapsing during a minor tournament in the USA. The American, 49, was checked over by doctors who diagnosed a collapsed lung. He returned to playing less than 24 hours later and, according to the Associated Press, was smoking cigarettes on the clubhouse patio, definitely one to watch for us! Speaking about Saturday’s health scare, Daly said: “I was having a great time and then suddenly – boom – I’m falling down while on the 18th tee.” He added: “The next thing I know I’m in an ambulance. It was scary.” Not that scary, he’s not changed his smoking habits!

South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been discharged from hospital after spending more than two weeks receiving treatment for a recurring infection, his foundation has said. The 83-year-old Nobel peace laureate has been in and out of hospital in recent months. He was previously treated for an infection resulting from his prostate cancer treatment. The statement said Mr Tutu has expressed his thanks to staff at the Cape Town hospital. “The love, prayers and good wishes expressed by people around the world had been just as important as the medical attention in aiding the arch’s [Tutu’s] recovery,” his daughter Rev Canon Mpho Tutu said. Let’s see how long he lasts!

On This Day

• 1492 – Christopher Columbus sails from La Gomera in the Canary Islands, his final port of call before crossing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.
• 1522 – The Victoria, the only surviving ship of Ferdinand Magellan‘s expedition, returns to Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain, becoming the first ship to circumnavigate the world.
• 1620 – The Pilgrims sail from Plymouth, England, on the Mayflower to settle in North America.
• 1803 – British scientist John Dalton begins using symbols to represent the atoms of different elements.
• 1870 – Louisa Ann Swain of Laramie, Wyoming becomes the first woman in the United States to cast a vote legally after 1807.
• 1992 – Hunters discover the emaciated body of Christopher McCandless at his camp 20 miles (32 km) west of the town of Healy, Alaska.
• 1997 – The Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales takes place in London. Well over a million people lined the streets and 2.5 billion watched around the world on television.

Deaths

• 1998 – Akira Kurosawa, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1910)
• 2007 – Luciano Pavarotti, Italian tenor and actor (b. 1935)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Cameron Diaz (43), Richard Gere (66), Raquel Welch (75), Van Morrison (70), Salma Hayek (49), Michael Keaton (64), Keanu Reeves (51), Beyonce Knowles (34), Charlie Sheen (50), Lily Tomlin (76), Barry Gibb (69), Rose McGowan (42), Jimmy Connors (63), Gloria Estefan (58), Warren Buffett (85), Lennox Lewis (50), and Al Jardine (73).

Next Week peeps!

6th September 2015 | Categories: 2015 | Leave A Comment »