Dead Pool 22nd March 2020

As the whole world is dying around us, or so we are led to believe, I still have no points to award you. However, to lighten things up a bit, Doug came up with an idea that I rather liked, so we’re going to go with it. If any of your listed die of COVID-19, you will get an extra 19 points! I don’t expect to be handing out many 19 point bundles, but who knows, this could be the end of times! Although, if this was the case Tom Hanks would have pegged it already? Perhaps it calls for a flight of evil monkeys?

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

Mike Tyson has said that he is looking forward to his own death because “living might be more complicated than dying to me”. Tyson, 53, is regarded as one of the greatest heavyweights in the history of boxing. He became the first heavyweight to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF belts and later became the lineal champion. However, he has a controversial past and in 1992, he was convicted of rape and sentenced to six years in prison. He was eventually released on parole after serving three years. Since his retirement from boxing he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and, reflecting on both his career and his life in an interview with The Sportsman, Tyson said that he does not fear death. “From my experience, from what I believe, the more I know about not existing, the more willing I am to die,” he said. “Yeah [I look forward to it], I don’t fear it. Living might be more complicated than dying to me… because living takes a lot of courage. “Without the courage, you can’t handle living. Living is a journey; living is a struggle. People have everything and they still can’t do it, they struggle. “We take ourselves too seriously; we think we’re somebody. Who the fuck, we’re nothing! We come from shit; we think we’re special [but] fame is shit. “You find out you’re not [special]. You’re capable of going to jail, you’re capable of dying, you’re capable of being mistreated. “I don’t really expect bad things to happen to me, but when they do happen to me, I understand it and I’m able to handle it. I’ve handled bad stuff before, that’s been my life. I don’t trip over bad things, I know shit happens. When bad things happen, I will be still striving to do something. I won’t be discouraged.” Good old Mike! 

The Notably Newly Infected

Prince Albert II of Monaco: The 62-year-old reigning monarch confirmed he had tested positive for the virus on Thursday. 

Michel Barnier: The European Union’s chief negotiator for its future relationship with Britain after Brexit. 

Idris Elba: The British actor confirmed he had contracted COVID-19 on Twitter on Tuesday 17th March. 

Mikel Arteta: Arsenal’s head coach tested positive for the coronavirus and self-isolated in line with government guidelines.  

Kristofer Hivju: Games of Thrones star Hivju, who played the wildling warrior Tormund Giantsbane, self-isolated with his family after contracting the illness. 

Linda Lusardi: The actress and former model said she had “never felt this ill” after contracting the virus. 

Fiona Phillips: The former GMTV host said she had symptoms including a sore throat and dry cough but was “fine” and “not suffering”.

On This Day

  • 1906 – The first England vs France rugby union match is played at Parc des Princes in Paris. 
  • 1972 – In Eisenstadt v. Baird, the United States Supreme Court decides that unmarried persons have the right to possess contraceptives.  
  • 1978 – Karl Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope suspended between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  
  • 1995 – Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returns to earth after setting a record of 438 days in space.

Deaths

  • 1772 – John Canton, English physicist and academic (b. 1718)
  • 2001 – William Hanna, American animator, director, producer, and voice actor, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (b. 1910) 
  • 2003 – Terry Lloyd, English journalist (b. 1952)

Last Meals

Oba Chandler was an American Serial Killer who was convicted and executed for the June 1989 murders of Joan Rogers and her two daughters, whose bodies were found floating in Tampa Bay, Florida, with their hands and feet bound. Autopsies showed the victims had been thrown into the water while still alive, with ropes tied to a concrete block around their necks. The case became high-profile in 1992 when local police posted billboards bearing enlarged images of the suspect’s handwriting recovered from a pamphlet in the victims’ car. Chandler was identified as the killer when his neighbour recognised the handwriting. This was the first use of billboards by law enforcement in the US. Billboards then became useful tools in searches for missing people. Against the advice of his attorneys, he testified in his own defence, saying he had met the Ohio women and had given them directions. Chandler said he never saw them again, except in newspaper coverage and on the billboards set up by authorities. Police originally theorised that two men were involved in the murders, but this was discounted once Chandler was arrested. Chandler was found guilty of the murders and was sentenced to death on November 4, 1994. He maintained his innocence and continued to pursue legal appeals while on Florida’s death row. During his seventeen years of incarceration until his execution, he was notable for not having a single visitor. On November 15, prior to his execution, Chandler requested two salami sandwiches on white bread with mustard, peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich on white bread, iced tea and coffee as his last meal. He was executed at 4:08 pm but declined to make a last statement before being injected but left a written statement with prison officials stating: “You are killing a innocent man today.” On February 25, 2014, investigators revealed that DNA evidence identified Chandler as the murderer of Ivelisse Berrios-Beguerisse, who was raped and strangled in Coral Springs, Florida, on November 27, 1990. Chandler was living two miles from her workplace and abandoned his apartment two days after murdering her, leaving everything including his furniture behind. So not so innocent after all… 

Last Week’s Birthdays

Lena Olin (64), Reese Witherspoon (43), William Shatner (88), Andrew Lloyd Webber (71), Gary Oldman (62), Rhys Darby (46), Matthew Broderick (58), Timothy Dalton (74), Sonequa Martin-Green (35), Jaye Davidson (52), Ruby Rose (34), Holly Hunter (62), Freema Agyeman (41), David Thewlis (57), William Hurt (70), Spike Lee (63), Carl Reiner (98), Harvey Weinstein (68), Bruce Willis (65), Ursula Andress (84), Glenn Close (73), Brad Dourif (70), Irene Cara (61), Rob Lowe (56), Kurt Russell (69), Gary Sinise (65), John Boyega (28), Alexandra Daddario (34), Alan Tudyk (49), Victor Garber (71), Jerome Flynn (57), Erik Estrada (71), and Jimmy Nail (66).

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