If you thought you were big and tough and Covid wasn’t going to get you, today I can share that a 34yo contender to be the Worlds Strongest Man died of the virus. So it doesn’t matter how tough you think you are, everyone is still a target. So with that in mind and that the vaccine is still a few months away for most of us, you have less than 6 weeks to come up with a list of potentials who are still friends with Donald Trump for instance. 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Ray Clemence, 72, English footballer (Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, national team), prostate cancer.   
• Vincent Reffet, 36, French BASE jumper, wingsuit flyer and jetpack pilot, training accident.  
• Kirby Morrow, 47, Canadian voice actor (Dragon Ball Z, Inuyasha, Ninjago).  
• Jan Morris, 94, Welsh historian and travel writer.  
• Aaron Page, 34, Australian strongman, COVID-19.

In Other News

A French stuntman famous for airborne feats using jetpacks and carbon-fibre wing packs has been killed in an inevitable training accident in Dubai. Vincent Reffet was part of the company Jetman Dubai. The 36-year-old went viral for flights over the Gulf city’s waterfront and the Alps. A statement said Reffet died “during training in Dubai” but did not give any further details. An investigation into his death is now under way and is expected to disclose that he went splat on the ground somehow. “Vince was a talented athlete, and a much-loved and respected member of our team. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and all those who knew and worked with him.” Reffet was the child of skydivers and had performed numerous stunts throughout his career, including BASE-jumping off the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. Reffet’s exploits often went viral on social media, including one occasion when he jumped from a mountain into a moving plane!    

My apologies beforehand, there’s a lot of Bobby’s in this tale. Bobby Brown’s son, Bobby Brown Jr, has died aged 28 – five years after the singer lost his daughter Bobbi Kristina and eight years after the death of her mother Whitney Huston. Bobby Jr was the half-brother of Bobby’s daughter with Whitney Houston, Bobbi, who passed away aged 22, in 2015. Bobby Jr was reportedly found dead at his home, cause of death is yet to be established but foul play is not suspected, so we can rule out Bobby Brown offing his family one by one. However, going from family history, we can suspect drowning and/or toxic levels of alcohol and cocaine to be a factor in his death. Bobby Jr is one of Bobby Brown’s seven children, most likely they are also called Bobby. He was involved in the family’s reality show on Bravo – Being Bobby Brown – when he was 13, starring alongside Bobbi Kristina. Bobby Jr’s mother is Kim Ward, who had dated Bobby for 11 years on and off, before he sparked a relationship with Whitney, leading to them getting engaged. 

If you thought Wipeout was just a bit of fun and games, think again! An unidentified male Wipeout contestant died shortly after completing the show’s obstacle course. “We are devastated to have learned of his passing and our deepest sympathy goes out to the family,” a TBS spokesperson said in a statement. Apparently, he contestant suffered an undisclosed medical emergency on the show’s Santa Clarita set and was being treated by on-site medical personnel before being taken to the hospital, where he ultimately died. In order to participate in the show, contestants must pass a medical examination in order to proceed, so a death on-set was very unexpected. Hosted by John Cena, Nicole Byer, and Camille Kostek, Wipeout is a TBS reboot of the original, which ran for seven seasons on ABC between 2008 and 2014. The show’s official description reads, ”Each game is three rounds, with each round featuring a jaw-dropping, multi-stage obstacle course with numerous strategy and decision points designed to further challenge the stamina of the competitors and deliver hilarious and surprising wipeouts. And of course, the iconic staple of the show—the big balls!”

On This Day

• 1307 – Pope Clement V issues the papal bull Pastoralis Praeeminentiae which instructed all Christian monarchs in Europe to arrest all Knights Templar and seize their assets.   
• 1963 – U.S. President John F. Kennedy is assassinated. 
• 1977 – British Airways inaugurates a regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service.  
• 1986 – Mike Tyson from Brooklyn, New York becomes the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history at age 20. 
• 1990 – British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher withdraws from the Conservative Party leadership election, confirming the end of her Prime-Ministership. The world rejoices!  
• 2005 – Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany.

Deaths

• 1718 – Blackbeard, English pirate (b. 1680)  
• 1963 – Aldous Huxley, English novelist and philosopher (b. 1894) 
• 1963 – John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States (b. 1917) 
• 1963 – C. S. Lewis, British writer, critic and Christian apologist (b. 1898)   
• 1980 – Mae West, American actress, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1893)  
• 1986 – Scatman Crothers, American actor and comedian (b. 1910)  
• 1993 – Anthony Burgess, English novelist, playwright, and critic (b. 1917)  
• 1996 – Mark Lenard, American actor (b. 1924)  
• 1997 – Michael Hutchence, Australian singer-songwriter (b. 1960)  

 Last Meals

On the last night of his life, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, dined on Chicken Virginia, bread rolls, green beans and pumpkin pie. The meal was simple because the chefs from the Rice Hotel didn’t have the correct equipment for an elaborate dinner for 3200 covers at the Sam Huston Coliseum for the testimonial dinner JFK was residing over. Once done, he and his entourage boarded Air Force One on a flight  to Fort Worth. On arrival at 11:35pm, despite the late time and rainy weather, the President and Mrs. Kennedy take some time to shake hands with well-wishers gathered outside the hotel before retiring to their assigned suite (Room 850) for the night.

On the morning of November 22nd, 1963, JFK ate breakfast in his room at the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth. According to the hotel’s executive chef, Otto Druhe, he served the president “coffee, orange juice, two boiled  (five-minute) eggs, some toast, and marmalade on the side.” Nothing too substantial as President Kennedy was scheduled to deliver a speech and share a steak luncheon with local government, business, religious, and civic leaders and their spouses at the Trade Mart in downtown Dallas at 1pm, however unbeknownst to him, he would never make it.  

What happened next is indelibly etched on everyones mind, even if you weren’t born yet. At 12:29 p.m. CST, the presidential limousine entered Dealey Plaza after a 90-degree right turn from Main Street onto Houston Street. Over two dozen known and unknown amateur and professional still and motion-picture photographers captured the last living images of President Kennedy. Witnesses recalled the shooting occurred shortly after the limousine made the sharp left-hand turn from Houston onto Elm Street. Most of the witnesses thought that the first shot was fired after the president had started waving with his right hand. Several onlookers recalled hearing at least three shots, with the second and third shots bunched distinctly much closer together than the first and second shots. The assassination complete the limousine began speeding up, Mrs. Kennedy was heard to scream “I have his brains in my hand!” The limousine driver and police motorcycles turned on their sirens and raced at high speeds to Parkland Hospital, passing their intended destination of the Dallas Trade Mart along the way, and arriving at about 12:38 p.m, unfortunately, way too late for Kennedy. 

Last Week’s Birthdays

Scarlett Johansson (36), Jamie Lee Curtis (62), Mads Mikkelsen (55), Mark Ruffalo (53), Michael Kenneth Williams (54), Terry Gilliam (80), Goldie Hawn (75), Alexander Siddig (55), Björk (55), Liza Tarbuck (56), Sean Young (61), Ming-Na Wen (57), Bo Derek (64), Joe Biden (78), Jerry Hardin (91), Jodie Foster (58), Meg Ryan (59), Adam Driver (37), Terry Farrell (57), Robert Beltran (67), Chloë Sevigny (46), Owen Wilson (52), Linda Evans (78), Delroy Lindo (68), Alan Moore (67), Rachel McAdams (42), Tom Ellis (42), Martin Scorsese (78), Danny DeVito (76), Sophie Marceau (54), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (62), RuPaul (60), Jonathan Ross (60), Missi Pyle (48), Maggie Gyllenhaal (43), Martha Plimpton (50), and Gigi Edgley (43).

A quiet week for famous deaths, but the ones that did die have thrown quite a few points  towards us. With he passing of Alex Trebek I can award 70 points to Doug, Abigail, Lee, and Paula; Laura steals 170 points for listing him as her Cert. In addition I can dole out 62 points to Gwenan for correctly guessing that Des O’Conner would sadly die this year. Plus, with the joyful demise of Peter Sutcliffe, only Nickie scores 76 points as he hurtles towards hell! The league table looks very interesting at the top end, several of you could easily win this year! I must remind you that causing the deaths of any of your listed celebrities will result in a disqualification. 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Alex Trebek, 80, Canadian-American game show host (Jeopardy!, High Rollers, Classic Concentration), seven-time Emmy winner, pancreatic cancer.  
• John Hays, 71, British travel agency executive, founder of Hays Travel. Cardiac arrest.   
• Peter Sutcliffe, 74, English serial killer, COVID-19.  
• Des O’Conner, 88, English comedian, singer and television presenter, complications from a fall. 

In Other News

McFly star Dougie Poynter took a “lethal dosage” of Valium after feeling responsible for the band splitting up. Poynter found himself struggling without McFly despite being the one who suggested they come to an end in 2016. The musician, who attempted suicide in 2011, relapsed after falling out with his bandmates and friends Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones and Harry Judd. Speaking in new documentary McFly: It’s All About Us, Poynter said: “On the one hand, I felt inspired because friends in LA would take me to see other bands and stuff. “On the other hand, I was like, ‘But my band’s broken and it’s all my fault’.” Poynter said that “Valium was a way of just making all that disappear”. Fletcher, Jones and Judd soon realised that Poynter was “taking something”, with Judd saying: “He sort of told me what he’d been taking – he was like, at that lethal dosage”. In an attempt to repair their friendship, Poynter asked his bandmates to join him at group therapy. Judd acknowledged that, while there may have been hard feelings initially, “we realised Dougie did nothing wrong – and that’s the biggest lesson from all this”. Speaking about being a part of McFly, Poynter, who won I’m a Celebrity in 2011, said: “It’s all I really know and all I really want to know.”      

Jesy Nelson has sparked further concern this week after pulling out of two big Little Mix events with ill health. The ‘talented’ 29-year-old singer is feared to have secretly quit the group by worried fans who received their copies of the band’s new album missing her signature. While Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall had all signed the special copies of Confessi, Jesy’s distinctive handwriting had been left off the cover. Fans were quick to point out Jesy has recently been unwell, so may not have been with her bandmates during the signing session. Little Mix’s rep told Mirror Online: “We’re not making any further comment on Jesy currently for private medical reasons.” It comes after Jesy pulled out of last Friday’s Little Mix: The Search final after falling ill. She also turned down Sunday’s MTV EMA, leaving her three co-stars to host the virtual event instead. Last week fans thought Jesy looked “over it” in a since-deleted Little Mix video promoting their sixth studio album. While Leigh-Anne, Jade and Perrie were full of beans speaking about Confetti, Jesy was seen rolling her eyes and looking downbeat. Just hours after the video vanished from the band’s socials, a Little Mix rep said: “Jesy is unwell and will not be appearing on tonight’s final of Little Mix The Search. “She will also not be hosting or performing at tomorrow’s MTV EMA’s.” No further information was given about Jesy’s condition.   

Sinéad O’Connor is entering a year-long rehab program following “a very traumatic six years.” In a Twitter-thread on Tuesday announcing the postponement of her shows originally scheduled for next year to 2022, the 53-year-old singer-songwriter revealed to fans that she’ll be seeking treatment for “trauma and addiction.” Declaring that “recovery starts now,” the “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer wrote that “this year was the end” of her trauma and suffering. O’Connor, reflecting on the struggles she has faced, revealed that this year she lost someone “beloved,” which cause her to “become briefly addicted to a drug other than weed.” O’Connor explained she has been addicted to marijuana for 34 years, which she called a “lifetime.” The Grammy winner also revealed that “the last year has been very traumatic” as one of her children – she’s mom to sons Jake, 32, Roisin, 25, and Shane, 15 – was “unwell.” O’Connor did not detail that scenario, though she confirmed that her child “is thriving now.” “I grew up with a lot of trauma and abuse. I then went straight into the music business. And never learned really how to make a normal life,” she wrote. “Never took proper time to heal. Wasn’t ready to either.” Asking fans to be “supportive and understanding,” she encouraged them to hold onto their tickets, promising that she will “be back with a new album and tour.” She apologized “to anyone this causes inconvenience to.” She also requested that her music business partners support her in “taking this step toward making a life I am happy in. So that we can all make some money !!!” 

On This Day

• 1943 – German SS leader Heinrich Himmler orders that Gypsies are to be put “on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps”.
• 1949 – Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte are executed for assassinating Mahatma Gandhi.  
• 1971 – Intel releases the world’s first commercial single-chip microprocessor, the 4004.

Deaths

• 1958 – Tyrone Power, American actor, singer, and producer (b. 1914)  
• 1983 – John Le Mesurier, English actor (b. 1912)  
• 2015 – Saeed Jaffrey, Indian-British actor (b. 1929)

Last Meals

Bobby Wayne Woods was an American convicted murderer, kidnapper and rapist executed by the state of Texas for the murder and rape of 11-year-old Sarah Patterson in 1997.  

A seventh-grade dropout, Woods was so illiterate that he had to refer to a spelling list just to write simple notes to his family. He had IQ scores of 80 and 78 during elementary school. His IQ score right before his murder trial was 70, and another in 2002 returned 68. Woods also worked as a short-order cook and roofer. 

In the early morning of April 30th 1997, Woods went to the home of his ex-girlfriend, Schwana Patterson, 35, who had had kicked him out a few days earlier. Her two children, 11-year-old Sarah and 9-year-old Cody, were sleeping inside. Woods crawled through an open window into the children’s bedroom. He grabbed Sarah’s foot and began beating her chest, then sexually molested her. Woods then forced both children to leave through the window in their nightclothes, put them in his car, and drove to a cemetery. There, he beat and stomped Cody on the head and strangled him. With Cody left for dead, Woods drove away with Sarah and found a secluded area where he raped her and cut her throat, resulting in her death. Cody survived and managed to raise the alarm. 

Based on Cody’s statement, police found Woods and asked him where Sarah was, hoping to find her alive. Woods answered, “You will not find her alive. I cut her throat.” He then led them to her body.

Because the Woods case was heavily reported in Dallas-area media, Woods’s trial was held in Llano, Texas. During his trial Woods admitted to kidnapping Patterson’s children and beating Cody Patterson unconscious. A psychologist representing the defence testified that Woods was mentally retarded and was not a threat to society. In response, a psychiatrist representing prosecution testified that Woods was not mentally retarded and could commit future violent crimes. 

Woods received a 40-year sentence for the abduction and assault of Cody Patterson and was sentenced to death for Sarah Patterson’s rape and murder. Schwana Patterson was also tried on charges of child neglect and was found guilty. She was sentenced to 23 years in prison.   

Prior to his execution, Woods last meal consisted of two chicken fried steaks, two fried chicken breasts, three fried pork chops, two hamburgers with lettuce, tomato, onion and salad dressing, four slices of bread, half a pound of fried potatoes with onion, half a pound of onion rings with ketchup, half a pan of chocolate cake with icing and two pitchers of milk. 

Woods was executed by lethal injection at 6:48 p.m. local time on December 3, 2009 in the Huntsville Unit state prison. His final words were “Bye. I’m ready.”

Last Week’s Birthdays

Jonny Lee Miller (48), Edward Asner (91), Beverly D’Angelo (69), Petula Clark (88), Olga Kurylenko (41), Russell Tovey (39), Sandahl Bergman (69), Paul McGann (61), Gerard Butler (51), Whoopi Goldberg (65), John de Lancie (72), Jimmy Kimmel (53), Anne Hathaway (38), Ryan Gosling (40), Gustaf Skarsgård (40), Wallace Shawn (77), Max Grodénchik (68), Neil Young (75), Leonardo DiCaprio (46), Demi Moore (58), Stanley Tucci (60), Calista Flockhart (56), Taron Egerton (31), Hugh Bonneville (57), Neil Gaiman (60), Tracy Morgan (52), Robert Duncan McNeill (56), and Lou Ferrigno (69).

A fairly standard week with a few recognisable faces departing the mortal world. Despite their passing we can all be happy due to the news that the despicable Wotsits Hitler has been deposed. Yes, we can now breathe a little easier, even with Covid, as Trump is a loser! 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• John Sessions, 67, British actor and comedian (Stella Street, Spitting Image, Whose Line Is It Anyway?), heart attack. 
• Luis Troyano, 48, Graphic designer (The Great British Bake Off finalist, series 5), oesophageal cancer.  
• Eddie Hassell, 30, American actor (The Kids Are All Right, Surface, Devious Maids), shot.
• Carol Arthur, 85, American actress (Blazing Saddles), Alzheimer’s disease
• Elsa Raven, 91, American actress (Back to the Future, Amen, Titanic).  
• Geoffrey Palmer, 93, British actor (The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Butterflies, Mr. Men and Little Miss).   
• Joy Westmore, 88, Australian actress (Prisoner, Neighbours, Blue Heelers), dementia. 
• Jonathan Sacks, 72, British Orthodox rabbi, former Chief Rabbi of the United Synagogue and member of the House of Lords, cancer.

In Other News

Diego Maradona, 60, was in recovery after a “successful” surgery to treat a subdural hematoma, a blood clot on the brain, a source close to the former World Cup winner said late on Tuesday. The operation was to address the clot, often caused by a head injury, and which can put pressure on the brain. “The operation proceeded normally and without complications and was successful,” the source told us, adding that the diagnosis was a chronic subdural hematoma. The person did not give details on the potential recovery period. The intervention, which was risky due to the ex-footballer’s delicate general health, lasted about two hours and was carried out by a team led by Leopoldo Luque, Maradona’s neurosurgeon and personal physician. Luque said earlier that the procedure was a “routine surgery” and that Maradona had been “lucid” and understood and agreed with the procedure. Maradona was admitted to the Ipensa clinic in La Plata, Argentina, on Monday for anaemia and dehydration, before being transferred to Olivos Clinic in Buenos Aires province.  

Jeff Bridges, the acclaimed actor who became a cult icon with his role in “The Big Lebowski,” shocked his legions of fans when he announced Monday he has been diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. Bridges, 70, said his prognosis was “good,” adding that he was starting treatment. But he did not specify whether he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma or non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the two main subtypes of lymphoma. “As the Dude would say,” the actor tweeted, referring to his “Lebowski” character, “New SHIT has come to light. Although it is a serious disease, I feel fortunate that I have a great team of doctors and the prognosis is good,” Bridges said. Bridges expressed gratitude to his family, friends and medical team and promised to keep fans posted on his recovery. Bridges is a seven-time Oscar nominee known for his roles in Starman, True Grit, The Last Picture Show and many other films. He won an Academy Award in 2010 for Crazy Heart and was most recently nominated for playing a grizzled lawman in Hell or High Water. Bridges is the son of the former actors Lloyd and Dorothy Bridges, who died in 1998 and 2009, respectively. 

Al Roker shared on “Today” that he will undergo surgery following a prostate cancer diagnosis. The beloved American weatherman said it was discovered after a routine medical checkup in September. “It’s a good news-bad news kind of thing,” he said. “Good news is we caught it early. Not great news is that it’s a little aggressive, so I’m going to be taking some time off to take care of this.” Roker said he wanted to go public with his illness because 1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime “but for African American men that number’s 1 in 7 and is more deadly.” “So if you detect it early this is a really treatable disease and it’s why I wanted to take you along my journey so we can all learn together how to educate and protect the men in our lives,” he said. Roker is scheduled to have surgery next week at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Dr. Vincent Laudone is his surgeon and said the cancer “appears somewhat limited or confined to the prostate” but given that it’s aggressive the decision was made to remove the prostate. Roker said his wife, journalist Deborah Roberts, has been his fiercest advocate and later added he doesn’t want people feeling sorry for him. Roker’s colleagues rallied around him Friday and he said he’s feeling optimistic about his cancer battle. “We’ll just wait and see, and hopefully in about two weeks, I’ll be back” on “Today,” he said. 

On This Day

• 1519 – Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with a great celebration. This went well… 
• 1605 – Robert Catesby, ringleader of the Gunpowder Plot, is killed.  
• 1895 – While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray. 
• 1939 – In Munich, Adolf Hitler narrowly escapes the assassination attempt of Georg Elser.  
• 1965 – The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 is given Royal Assent, formally abolishing the death penalty in the United Kingdom, except in cases of high treason, “piracy with violence” (piracy with intent to kill or cause grievous bodily harm), arson in royal dockyards and espionage, as well as other capital offences under military law. The death penalty would be abolished in all cases in 1998. 
• 1973 – The right ear of John Paul Getty III is delivered to a newspaper outlet along with a ransom note, convincing his father to pay $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.  
• 1999 – Bruce Miller is killed at his junkyard near Flint, Michigan. His wife Sharee Miller, who convinced her online lover Jerry Cassaday to kill him (before later killing himself) was convicted of the crime, in what became the world’s first Internet murder. 
• 2016 – Donald Trump is elected the 45th President of the United States, defeating Hillary Clinton, the first woman ever to receive a major party’s nomination. This went well… 

Deaths

• 1674 – John Milton, English poet and philosopher (b. 1608)  
• 1887 – Doc Holliday, American dentist and poker player (b. 1851)  
• 1978 – Norman Rockwell, American painter and illustrator (b. 1894)  

1st Internet Murder 

Sharee Miller is an American woman convicted of plotting the murder of her husband, Bruce Miller, over the Internet with her online lover Jerry Cassaday, who later committed suicide. 

Miller’s husband, Bruce Miller, was killed by a shotgun blast inside his junkyard office on the evening of November 8, 1999. Believing at first the death was a result of a botched robbery, police failed to find a credible lead and the case went cold for months. In February the following year, Sharee Miller’s online lover, ex-cop Jerry Cassaday, killed himself in Missouri and left a suicide note in which he admitted to carrying out the murder and accused Miller of planning the deed. Cassaday’s accusation, and Fb instant chat message logs left behind by the former police officer as evidence of the set-up, eventually led Miller to be thrown in prison for life on conspiracy and second-degree murder charges.

The confession noted “I drove there and killed him. Sharee was involved and set it up, I have all the proof and I am sending it to the police, she will get whats coming. I have been so stupid, but now you know the real story of why I went into such a state of depression… because I just couldn’t tell anyone the truth… She just wanted all her money and no more husband, well she got her wish, but she is soon to learn that she cant do that to people… Now I know it was all just more lies and games from Sharee, she didn’t care what it took or who she hurt to get what she wanted.

In 2008, Miller won an appeal and was released from prison the following year, after a judge agreed with her lawyers’ argument that the suicide letter should not have been admitted as evidence against her because Cassaday was not available for cross-examination.

In December 2009, Sharee Miller was found using Facebook again. Miller’s lawyer David Nickola said that there was no reason for his client to be barred from using a computer, but Sharee’s Facebook page was temporarily deactivated when it attracted publicity. “I don’t think there’s anything inappropriate about it,” Nickola said. He states that Sharee used Facebook to keep in touch with her family members and her son who is overseas in the military. “She’s an innocent person out in society and she’s doing positive things,” Nickola said.

In 2012, still pleading innocence, Miller was sent back to prison to continue to serve her original sentence after a court re-interpreted the admissibility of the suicide letter. However 16 years after the murder, a remorseful letter was sent to Genesee Circuit Judge Judith A. Fullerton, where Miller admitted to arranging for her husband to be killed by her lover. “Judge Fullerton, I did it. Almost the way the prosecutor said I did,’ Miller wrote in a letter. “I knew it was going to happen and I allowed it. I allowed a man to kill another man based on my lies and manipulation.” 

In her letter, Miller also accused three different attorneys, including her current lawyer, David Nickola, of refusing to listen to her admission of guilt. Nickola denied the accusation, and said that if Miller’s confession had come sooner, she could have taken a plea deal offered before the trial, served 15 years in prison, and been a free woman by now, the Flint Journal reported.  Miller is currently still serving her live sentence at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Parker Posey (52), Tara Reid (45), Matthew Rhys (46), Gretchen Mol (48), Alfre Woodard (68), Richard Curtis (64), Gordon Ramsay (54), Jack Osbourne (35), Adam Devine (37), Ethan Hawke (50), Emma Stone (32), Rebecca Romijn (48), Thandie Newton (48), Taryn Manning (42), Sally Field (74), Lori Singer (63), Michael Cerveris (60), Maria Shriver (65), Nigel Havers (69), Conchita Wurst (32), Famke Janssen (56), Sam Rockwell (52), Tilda Swinton (60), Robert Patrick (62), Tatum O’Neal (57), Armin Shimerman (71), Tamzin Outhwaite (50), Elke Sommer (80), Eric Menyuk (61), Matthew McConaughey (51), Ralph Macchio (59), Olivia Taylor Dudley (35), Loretta Swit (83), Dolph Lundgren (63), Kate Capshaw (67), Tom Savini (74), Roseanne Barr (68), Dylan Moran (49), David Schwimmer (54), Stefanie Powers (78), and k.d. lang (59).

Points!! Let’s start by awarding Doug, Paul and Laura 72 points each for the demise of Nobby Styles; and not to be outdone, Jemm scores with the passing of Sean Connery, 60 points! Well done all of you! The league table has changed somewhat, some interesting familial rivalries being very close too, and only two months to go!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Frank Bough, 87, English television presenter (Grandstand, Nationwide, Breakfast Time).  
• Bobby Ball, 76, British comedian (Cannon and Ball), actor (Last of the Summer Wine, Not Going Out) and television host, COVID-19.  
• J. J. Williams, 72, Welsh rugby union player (Bridgend, national team, British and Irish Lions). 
• Nobby Stiles, 78, English footballer (National Team, Manchester United), world champion 1966.  
• Sir Sean Connery, 90, Scottish actor (Dr. No, The Untouchables, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), Oscar winner (1988).

In Other News

Sooty puppeteer Matthew Corbett first experienced symptoms of Covid-19 when he popped down to the cellar to fetch a bottle of wine on his birthday. As he came up the stairs on March 28, just days after the start of lockdown, the 72-year-old started to sweat, felt dizzy and started to hallucinate. Within days, Matthew was admitted to hospital, suffering from a range of severe symptoms, including chest pains and pneumonia. Seven months on, the ordeal has left him feeling breathless, fatigued and so frail that he is no longer able to do the DIY and gardening jobs he previously enjoyed. Struggling to cope and with no NHS aftercare, reluctantly he and his wife Sallie have sold their much-loved house in Cheshire and, in August, moved to a retirement village in West Sussex where more help would be on hand. Matthew took over as the puppeteer of Sooty, Sweep and Soo in 1976, after his father Harry Corbett, who created the trio, had a heart attack. He retired in 1998, aged 50, having sold the brand to the Bank of Yokohama for £1.4 million, and over the next 20 years developed a number of health problems, including type 2 diabetes.

Dame Patricia Routledge is ‘resting’ following yet another fall. Dame Patricia, who is 91, “has suffered injury following a fall and has been advised to take a period of rest in order to speed recovery.” Best known for her role as Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances, has a history of falls in recent years, beginning in 2017 when she was forced to cancel her appearance in July’s Buxton International Festival when she had a fall just before going on stage. At the time she bounced back and thanked the Stockport’s Stepping Hill A&E with free tickets for the ‘wonderful treatment’ she received. Sadly most of the main cast from Keeping Up Appearances have died, with the exception of herself and Judy Cornwell who played Daisy, it’s a very sparse list. 

Artist Tracey Emin had an operation this summer after a cancerous tumour was found in her bladder, she has said. Emin, 57, was diagnosed in the spring, had surgery two months ago and is now in remission. But she said she is too weak to return to making art. “Yesterday, I was crying because I wanted to paint and I didn’t have the energy to do it,” she said. Emin was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1999 and is one of Britain’s best-known and most celebrated excuse for an artist. She said she had been working on a semi-abstract painting early in lockdown that had been “keeping her up at night”. Only after her diagnosis did she realise it resembled her bladder. “It’s exactly the same as my bladder with the tumour in it, before I knew I had the cancer – it’s brilliant!” she said. Emin, who is based in Margate, Kent, is known for such installations as her unmade bed and the tent Everyone I Have Ever Slept With. Emin’s operation involved removing many of her female reproductive organs. She told the us she had “half my body chopped out, including half my vagina”. No doubt the parts will end up in an installation piece soon enough. 

England World Cup winner and Manchester United legend  Sir Bobby Charlton has been diagnosed with dementia. The news follows the deaths of his older brother Jack in July and fellow World Cup-winner Nobby Stiles on Friday, both of whom had also been diagnosed with dementia. His wife, Lady Norma Charlton, confirmed Sir Bobby’s diagnosis to us and said that the family were happy for this to be reported. She also expressed a hope that the knowledge of Sir Bobby’s diagnosis could help others. Now 83, Sir Bobby is celebrated across the footballing world for his achievements on the field. As well as playing every minute of the 1966 World Cup triumph, he won the Ballon d’Or later that year and, having survived the Munich Air Disaster of 1958, he inspired Manchester United to their first European Cup triumph in 1968 with two goals in the final.

On This Day

• 1512 – The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.  
• 1755 – In Portugal, Lisbon is totally devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami, killing between 60,000 and 90,000 people.  
• 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. 
• 1955 – The Vietnam War begins. That went well… 

Deaths

• 1982 – King Vidor, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894)  
• 1985 – Phil Silvers, American actor and comedian (b. 1911)  
• 2005 – Michael Piller, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1948)  

Halloween Fun!

One Halloween in the Bronx, teenagers threw eggs at a car. The eggs probably cost the boys a few dollars. They cost Karl Jackson his life. The year was 1998. Mr. Jackson and his girlfriend were picking up her 9-year-old son from a children’s party. Mr. Jackson had turned 21 weeks earlier. He was a quiet young man, the son of a nurse and a postal worker. He usually avoided going out on Halloween, not because he was too busy he was a data entry clerk at Morgan Stanley but because he thought it was too dangerous. The teenagers’ eggs struck their car. Mr. Jackson stepped out of the vehicle. An argument began. Mr. Jackson had sat back down in the passenger seat when one of the teenagers pulled out a gun. A single shot rang out, striking Mr. Jackson in the head, killing him. “I think it took us two years to even talk about it,” said Gloria Jackson, 62, Mr. Jackson’s mother. “We were just devastated. We never thought that anyone from our family would be murdered, especially  on a holiday, for something stupid.” 

Halloween eggings have left a violent legacy in New York City. Since 1984, at least 24 people have been seriously wounded or killed in stabbings, shootings, beatings or accidents sparked by egg-throwing confrontations around Halloween. All 24 cases played out in roughly the same way: a group of boys hurled eggs at pedestrians, cars or houses; the targets confronted the throwers; and violence erupted. Most of the 24 victims were teenagers or young men. The New York Police Department said it did not compile statistics on eggings. The tally of 24 victims comes from a review of articles in The New York Times, The Daily News, The New York Post and Newsday that described Halloween egg-throwing episodes. Caught up in the thrill and anonymity of wearing costumes and masks, teenagers have long used Halloween as an excuse to wreak havoc. 

Halloween eggings have occasionally led to attacks in other parts of the country, but only in New York City has the practice left two dozen dead and wounded. Some like Mr. Jackson, who had the audacity to confront egg-throwers, have been murdered. Some who have been hit with eggs have chased the culprits and killed them. Some who have thrown eggs have died trying to get away. The seemingly harmless prank of a tossed egg has been perceived as a kind of ultimate insult, the sudden splatter and mess touching off a rage in people. For police officers in the 104th Precinct in Queens, eggings are serious business: they ask merchants not to sell eggs or shaving cream to minors during Halloween week and distribute “No Eggs” posters to stores, as part of a campaign started by the Juniper Park Civic Association. 

Two days before Halloween in 1994, a man leaving a bar in Brooklyn was hit with eggs tossed by several boys. The man stabbed and killed one of the boys, a 12-year-old. In 1996, a 10-year-old Brooklyn boy was shot in the neck by a stray bullet after an egg fight on Halloween. 

On Oct. 29, 2005, Joseph Padro, 31, the brother of a police detective, was shot and killed in the Bronx after he chased a group of teenagers who pelted his minivan with eggs. One of those he chased, Jeffrey Ivey, 15, never admitted that he threw an egg that hit the minivan  witnesses said he had but he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced to five years to life in prison. “Whether he threw it or not, the deceased thought he had,” said Mr. Ivey’s lawyer, Robert M. Moll. “What may start off as a prank does not always end how people may think, and in this case, it led to tragic results for both the deceased and Jeffrey Ivey.” 

Every Halloween, on the anniversary of Mr. Jackson’s death, his family gathers at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. They write messages to him, on painted stones they leave at his grave. His sister, Karlyn Jackson, was pregnant at the time of the shooting. The nephew he never knew is now 11. Mr. Jackson’s grandmother, Sally Bagley, still keeps a pair of his shoes at the top of the stairway. 

The teenager prosecuted for killing Mr. Jackson, Curtis Sterling, was 17 when he was arrested. Serving 20 years, he turned 29 in June, inmate No. 99A4542 at a state prison in Ulster County. Every October Mr. Sterling receives a Halloween card in the mail. The cards read: “I’m glad you’re still there.” It’s from Mr. Jackson’s mother.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Toni Collette (48), Natalia Tena (36), Jenny McCarthy (48), Anthony Kiedis (58), Erica Cerra (41), Peter Jackson (59), Stephen Rea (74), Willow Smith (20), Sanjeev Bhaskar (56), Michael J. Anderson (67), Vanilla Ice (53), Fiona Dourif (39), Clémence Poésy (38), Henry Winkler (75), Jessica Hynes (48), Juliet Stevenson (64), Ivanka Trump (39), Winona Ryder (49), Rufus Sewell (53), Ben Foster (40), Richard Dreyfuss (73), Dan Castellaneta (63), Joaquin Phoenix (46), Julia Roberts (53), Annie Potts (68), Matt Smith (38), Gwendoline Christie (42), Nolan Gould (22), Caitlyn Jenner (71), Chris Bauer (54), Inbar Lavi (34), John Cleese (81), Robert Picardo (67), Kelly Osbourne (36), Jon Heder (43), Cary Elwes (58), Anthony Rapp (49), Seth MacFarlane (47), Tom Cavanagh (57), and Roger Allam (67).

Sad times when a Disney character dies… But what else would 2020 be if not totally crap? At least The Amazing Randi will now be able to annoy proper psychics by haunting their crystal balls from now on, he’d had a long life considering most of his career was based on spoiling magicians secrets and debunking faith healers.  

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Spencer Davis, 81, Welsh musician (The Spencer Davis Group), pneumonia.  
• James Randi, 92, Canadian-American magician and skeptic, founder of the JREF and co-founder of the CSI. 
• Marge Champion, 101, American actress (Show Boat, Give a Girl a Break), choreographer and model (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). 
• Johnny Leeze, 78, English actor (Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Last of the Summer Wine), COVID-19.
• Joan Hocquard, 112, British supercentenarian, oldest person in the United Kingdom.

In Other News

Hollywood star Robert Redford, 84, is “in mourning” following the death of his son James at the age of 58. Activist and filmmaker James Redford died on Friday after being diagnosed with liver cancer, his wife Kyle confirmed via Twitter. His famous father’s publicist, Cindi Berger, said: “The grief is immeasurable with the loss of a child.” “Jamie [James] was a loving son, husband and father,” added Berger, who asked for privacy for the Redford family “during this difficult time”. “His legacy lives on through his children, art, filmmaking and devoted passion to conservation and the environment.” Redford’s son James made documentary films, including The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia. His latest film Playing Keeps, which explored the importance of play and downtime in our lives, was given a virtual premiere online at this month’s Mill Valley Film Festival in California. His wife of 32 years, Kyle, shared the news of his death online, alongside pictures of the couple and their two children. She told the Salt Lake Tribune that James had discovered the cancer diagnosis late last year while awaiting a liver transplant. His liver disease had returned two years ago, she added.  

Arnold Schwarzenegger is recovering after undergoing heart surgery. The Terminator star told fans he feels “fantastic” after being given a new aortic valve. The 73-year-old was given a new pulmonary valve in 2018 to replace the one he received in 1997, due to a congenital heart defect. He’s now more machine than human! In a post to social media, Schwarzenegger thanked doctors at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, and said he had been enjoying the local sights since his operation. Photos showed him in a hospital bed with his thumbs up, and other pictures of him exploring the area. “Thanks to the team at the Cleveland Clinic, I have a new aortic valve to go along with my new pulmonary valve from my last surgery,” he wrote. “I feel fantastic and have already been walking the streets of Cleveland enjoying your amazing statues. Thank you to every doc and nurse on my team! Schwarzenegger’s son Patrick commented on the Instagram post, joking: “PLEASE DON’T GO WORK OUT TODAY.”  

Thanks to Paul G. for this little beauty of a story from The Yorkshire Herald but to be taken with a pinch of salt I suppose! A furious row has broken out between a local tattoo artist and his client after what started as a typical inking session left both of them requiring emergency hospital treatment. Furious film fan and part-time plus-size XXXL model Tracey Munter, 23, had visited the ‘Ink It Good’ Tattoo Emporium in Wellgate, Yorkshire last week, to have the finishing touches applied to a double buttock representation of the chariot race scene from the iconic 1959 film, Ben Hur. Tattooist Jason Burns takes up the story. “It was a  big job in more ways than one.”   he told us “I’d just lit a roll-up and was finishing off a centurions helmet. It’s delicate, close up work. The next thing is, I  sense a slight ripple in the buttock cleavage area just around Charlton Heston’s whip, and a hissing sound – more of a whoosh than a rasp – and before I know what’s happening, there’s a flame shooting from her arse to my fag and my beards gone up like an Aussie bush fire.” Jason says he rushed to the studio sink to quell the flames, only to turn round and see Tracey frantically fanning her buttock area with a damp towel. The fire had travelled down the gas cloud and set fire to her thong, which was smoking like a cheap firework. “To be honest”, said Jason, “I didn’t even realise she was wearing one. You’d need a sodding mining licence and a torch to find out for sure. She could have had a complete wardrobe in there, and I’d have been none the wiser.” Jason and Tracey were taken to Rotherham District Hospital accident and emergency department where they were treated for minor burns and shock. Both are adamant that the other is to blame. “I’m furious,” said Jason, “I’ve got a face like a mange-ridden dog, and my left eyebrow’s not there anymore. I don’t know about Ben Hur – Gone With The Wind would be more appropriate. You don’t just let rip in someone’s face like that. It’s dangerous.” But Tracey remains both angry and unrepentant; “I’m still in agony,” she said, “and  Charlton Heston looks more like Sidney bloody Poitier now. Jason shouldn’t have had a fag on the go when he’s doing close up work; there’s no way I’d guff on purpose. He’d had me on all fours for nearly an hour. I can only put up with that for so long before nature takes its course. My Kev knows that I give him my five-second warning, and I’d have done the same for Jason, but I didn’t get chance – it just quietly crept out.” Ted Walters from the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service wasn’t surprised when we asked him to comment on what had happened “People don’t appreciate the dangers.“  he told us, “We get more call-outs to flatulence ignition incidents than kitchen fires these days now that people have moved over to oven chips. We have a slogan ‘Flame ‘n fart – keep ’em apart’. Anyone engaging in an arse-inking scenario would do well to bear that in mind in future.” On behalf of the entire Fire and Rescue service, we wish them both a swift recovery.

On This Day

• 1415 – Hundred Years’ War: Henry V of England, with his lightly armoured infantry and archers, defeats the heavily armoured French cavalry in the Battle of Agincourt.
• 1854 – The Battle of Balaclava takes place during the Crimean War. It is soon memorialised in verse as The Charge of the Light Brigade.  

Deaths

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

Last Meals

Edmund Zagorski was an American convicted murderer from Michigan who was executed by the state of Tennessee for the 1983 murders of John Dotson and Jimmy Porter in Robertson County. Zagorski lured the two men into a wooded hunting ground under the pretence of selling them 100lb (45 kg) of marijuana – before shooting them and slitting their throats. 

Zagorski first met John Dale Dotson on April 5th 1983 at a trout farm. Zagorski introduced himself to Dotson and his wife Marsha under the guise of being a mercenary based in Central America named Jesse Lee Hardin. Zagorski convinced Dotson that he would be able to sell as much as 100 pounds of marijuana for around $25,000 as early as April 21st. Following this, the two scheduled a meeting in a wooded hunting ground in Robertson County for 6:00 pm on Saturday, April 23rd 1983. Before he left to meet Zagorski on April 23rd, Dotson was described by his wife Marsha as “somewhat hesitant” and allegedly asked her to call a friend if he failed to return that night. After leaving, he met his friend James “Jimmy” Porter at Porter’s tavern, near the arranged meeting location. Dotson had a change of clothes, a backpack and a revolver. The two men promptly left in Porter’s truck to meet Zagorski. At around 5:30 pm, the owner of the trout farm where Zagorski and Dotson first met heard gunshots coming from the area where he knew the three men had arranged to meet. However, little action was taken as gunshots were common in the area due to deer hunting. Almost two weeks later, on May 6, the bodies of Dotson and Porter were found in that same wooded area. The bodies had decomposed quickly, in part due to a burgeoning heat wave; however it was concluded that both men had been shot and their throats had been slit. Ballistics tests matched a bullet casing found at the scene to a gun owned by Zagorski.  

In late April, days after the murders, Zagorski arrived at a friend’s house in Ohio. The friend in question observed that Zagorski was in possession of numerous items belonging to Dotson and Porter, including Porter’s red Datsun truck, as well as a large amount of money. Zagorski was ultimately arrested on May 26th 1983 following a shootout with Ohio police, during which he shot a number of officers, before he himself was shot, subdued, and arrested. Zagorski was convicted of murdering Dotson and Porter and was sentenced to death by electrocution.  

At around 4pm on November 1st 2018, Zagorski ate a final meal of pickled ham hock and pig tails: he had previously rejected a special last meal. Zagorski was executed by electrocution on Thursday, November 1st 2018, at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, being pronounced dead at 7:26 pm. His last words were reportedly, “Let’s rock”.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Craig Robinson (49), Nancy Cartwright (63), Katy Perry (36), Glynis Barber (65), Kevin Kline (73), F. Murray Abraham (81), Ryan Reynolds (44), Emilia Clarke (34), Sam Raimi (61), ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic (61), Christopher Lloyd (82), Jeff Goldblum (68), Saffron Burrows (48), Bob Odenkirk (58), Derek Jacobi (82), Catherine Deneuve (77), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (45), Andrew Scott (44), Ken Watanabe (61), Everett McGill (75), Kim Kardashian West (40), Viggo Mortensen (62), Danny Boyle (64), Snoop Dogg (49), Sandra Dickinson (72), Rebecca Ferguson (37), Michael Gambon (80), and John Lithgow (75).