This Week in Death brings you: This Week in Death! Below are all the notes and news to cover a week's worth of health and death. There are more health notices than a hospital, and more death than... well, a hospital. How is Billy Graham this week? What's the latest on Courtney Love? Which Music or TV persona - whom I have never heard of - died? (Hint: It's Alice Ghostley) Even as the Shakespearian colors of fall beset us, there's still only one way to find out...
What, my dear... are you yet living?
Ahmadinejad Hoping Nobody Needs to Impress Jodie Foster Over the Next Day
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, facing protests and tabloid headlines calling him "evil" and a "madman," stirred debate Monday about free speech ahead of his appearance at Columbia University. The New York Daily News' front page on Monday read: "THE EVIL HAS LANDED." The New York Post called Ahmadinejad the "Madman Iran Prez" and a "guest of dishonor." Ahmadinejad's scheduled address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday will be his third time attending the New York meeting in three years. His request to lay a wreath at ground zero was denied by city officials and condemned by politicians who said a visit to the site of the 2001 terror attacks would violate sacred ground.
[Houston Chronicle]
This Herman Is No Pee-Wee, but Health Rubs Him Out of Concert
Broadway composer Jerry Herman has been forced to pull out of a BBC Radio 2 gala concert celebrating his career due to bad health. The 76-year-old writer of hit shows such as Hello, Dolly! and Mack and Mabel was to fly to London from his home in LA to take part in the concert, which is taking place this Sunday. But on his doctor's advice, Herman will no longer be able to attend.
[The Stage]
Zsa Zsa Recovering; Getting Some Superfluofus Z's in the Hospital
Zsa Zsa Gabor is recovering in a US hospital after undergoing surgery for infections in her legs, her husband said. "The operation was successful, she is in recovery and in a couple of days she'll be okay," hubby Frederic Von Anhalt said in a telephone interview from Zsa Zsa's room at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles.
[This Is Nottingham]
"This is Just a Typical Love Story... This is How it Ends"
Don't call them her drug years. Courtney Love was "out sick." It's a concept she says she got recently from friend Gwyneth Paltrow, who, along with Trudie Styler, was among a handful of friends Love says were "kind to me through thick and thin. You really know who your true friends are when you're down and out." The former Hole singer and widow of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain says she's patiently treading on a long-term trek back from her own personal hell of drug addiction, bankruptcy, identity theft and legal troubles. She has been clean and sober for three years, the singer says, "but it will be another two years before my memory is back to normal" because of her heavy drug abuse.
[USA Today]
Jesus Could Walk on Water, Billy Can Walk on Land
Evangelist Billy Graham took several walks in the hospital where he continues to recover from intestinal bleeding, his staff said. The 88-year-old also visited with family, and his walks included the longest one he has taken since he was hospitalized, a hospital spokeswoman said. Graham will continue to undergo physical therapy to build strength and condition him in preparation for going home, officials said, though there has been no date set for his discharge.
[International Herald-Tribune]
Done to Death... By Slanderous Tongue?
Ghostley Lives Up to Name; Alice off to Wonderland
Alice Ghostley, the Tony Award-winning actress best known on television for playing Esmeralda on "Bewitched" and Bernice on "Designing Women," has died. She was 81. Ghostley died Friday at her home in Studio City after a long battle with colon cancer and a series of strokes, longtime friend Jim Pinkston said. From 1969 to 1972, she played the good witch and ditzy housekeeper Esmeralda on TV's "Bewitched." She played Bernice Clifton on "Designing Women" from 1987 to 1993, for which she earned an Emmy nomination in 1992. Ghostley's film credits include "To Kill a Mockingbird," "The Graduate," "Gator" and "Grease."
[AP]
"Non!"
Marcel Marceau, who revived the art of mime and brought poetry to silence, has died, his former assistant said Sunday. He was 84. A French Jew, Marceau survived the Holocaust -- and also worked with the French Resistance to protect Jewish children. His biggest inspiration was Charlie Chaplin. Marceau, in turn, inspired countless young performers -- Michael Jackson borrowed his famous "moonwalk" from a Marceau sketch, "Walking Against the Wind." Offstage, he was famously chatty. "Never get a mime talking. He won't stop," he once said.
[CNN]
I was just Checking the Specs on the Inline of the Rotary Girder... I'm Re-dead-ed"
Jazz drummer Gordon "Specs" Powell, who recorded with Billie Holiday and played for "The Ed Sullivan Show" as part of the CBS network orchestra, has died of complications from kidney disease. He was 85. "He made sure he worked harder than anyone else, he was always prepared, he went to all of his sessions—he called them dates—in suits, impeccably dressed," said his son, Ted Smith. "It was never a bad day for him, and if it was, he wasn't going to let it show."
[Mercury News]
With All that Humbard Accomplished, Rex Still was Booed in Chicago
Rex Humbard, a guitar-strumming revival preacher who became a pioneer of television evangelism in the 1950s and remained a familiar Sunday morning presence in millions of American homes for almost half a century, died Friday. He was 88. Mr. Humbard's sermons were televised on Sundays from 1953 to 1999, reaching up to 20 million viewers, his ministry estimated. At its peak, in 1977-8, the program leased time on 378 television stations in the United States and Canada and broadcast on about 1,200 more in other countries.
[New York Times]
This Week Was Somebody's Birthday! Whose Birthday? Some Death Pool Entrants' Birthdays. How Old Are They? 1,2,3... And Never been Kissed By... Death
Happy Birthday to:
September 21: Larry Hagman (76)
September 21: Nicole Richie (26)
September 23: Mickey Rooney (87)
... And Many More!!!!!!!!
No points deaths this week means no change in the Top 5, who remain...
1. El Esta Adead - 76 points (6 deaths)
2. The Ex-Parrots - 62.3 points (6 deaths)
3. Kraut's Picks - 60.9 points (8 deaths)
4. Yiz-score - 54.3 points (4 deaths)
5. Struck Down by Yahweh - 53.6 points (6 deaths)
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow...
The Commissioner's Council
Monday, September 24, 2007
TWID - Autumn Edition
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
TWID - International Talk Like a Pirate Day Edition
Ahoy! This Week in Death brin's you our latest nuggets o' treaaye. Below be all t' notes and news t' cover a half a fortnight's worth o' livin' and dyin'. There be more health than a hornpipe, and more death than land lubbers on ye high seas. How be Billy Graham this week? What's t' latest in Fidel Castro rumors? Which Music or TV bilge rat went t' Davy Jones' locker? Arr, One way t' find out, matey. Continue... If you dare...
Struck down by Yahweh took all t' booty this week from t' spoils o' James Oliver Rigney Jr , who we made walk t' plank. T' world may have known you as Swashbuckler Robert Jordan, but on t' high seas, you were always Little Jimmy Rigney. You had a beard t' make a pirate say "Arr.... " (aye, we recognize t' irony that everythin' makes us say arr)
Sick? Maybe. Scurvy? Aye. But they haven't kicked t' bucket. Well, blow me down. These people be alive
Hard to be at Death's Door When You're Too Sick to Leave Your Own House
Two senior Cuban officials said on Wednesday that Cuban leader Fidel Castro, absent from public view for more than a year, is recovering from an intestinal problem that required several operations. Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto said Castro was not at death's door and dismissed rumours in Miami of his demise as "wishful thinking" by exiled opponents. Prieto said he had no inside information on Castro's medical condition, but deduced from the 81-year-old leader's regular essays and columns that he is not dying.
[Reuters]
Run Run Finding it Difficult to Walk Walk, Focus Focus
Sir Run Run Shaw, accompanied by Hong Kong Chief Secretary Henry Tang, Thursday night showed up on TVB Jade, to present the annual Shaw Prize to four distinguished scientists. Walking with difficulty, Shaw seemed to be coping with deteriorating vision as well. When he presented the mathematical science award to Professor Robert Langlands of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, he needed Tang to point him in the direction of the cameras.
[Forbes]
If They Don't Release Him Soon, He May have to Deal with O. J. as a Cellmate
Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs's lawyer is asking for him to be freed early, it emerged yesterday. Biggs, 77, is terminally ill after a series of strokes. "As things stand, he is due for release in two years and we are asking for this date to be brought forward. He is a very old man who is dying. "He is partially paralysed, can barely walk, and has almost lost the power of speech. On compassionate grounds, he should be released to be with his family."
[Daily Record]
I Can't Believe Willie Would Disappoint All the Little Orpheums
Willie Nelson has canceled his Sept. 25 concert at the Orpheum Theatre, citing exhaustion. "We are incredibly sorry that we have to cancel this show, especially since we already postponed it once, but we wish Willie the best of health and will work hard to bring him back in the near future," said Dave Bernstein, the show's promoter. "This is highly unusual, and we sincerely appreciate the patience of all those folks that purchased tickets, as we know they are as disappointed as we are," Bernstein said.
[Sioux City Journal]
"She's Got Legs, Knows How to Use Them...Once That You Got Them, You Can Never Lose them"
Zsa Zsa Gabor, who is partially paralyzed from a 2002 car accident, was set to have surgery Tuesday for a severe infection in her legs. Gabor has been forced to use a wheelchair and walker since the auto accident, leading to infections in her legs. "She's been inactive for the last four years," John Blanchette, publicist for the 90-year-old actress said. The operation was scheduled at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said Blanchette.
[Yahoo!]
Yarrrgh mateys, ye've been boarded by death! We hope your voyage ends in t ' place o' pirates dreams... parrrrrradise!
Rowdy Roddy Roddick Was Piped Up for Causes
Anita Roddick, the crusading entrepreneur who used the Body Shop chain of cosmetics stores she founded to promote causes, died on Monday. She was 64. Ms. Roddick was one of Britain's most visible business executives. Working on behalf of numerous causes — the rain forest, debt relief for developing countries, indigenous farmers in impoverished nations, whales, voting rights, anti-sexism and anti-ageism, to name a few — Ms. Roddick believed that businesses could be run ethically, with what she called "moral leadership," and still turn a profit.
[New York Times]
OK, Brett, Your Turn: On September 15th, You Will _________
Actress and comedian Brett Somers, who amused game show fans with her quips on the "Match Game" in the 1970s, has died, her son said. She was 83. Somers died Saturday at her home in Westport of stomach and colon cancer, Adam Klugman said Monday. Hosted by Gene Rayburn, "Match Game" was the top game show during much of the 1970s. Contestants would try to match answers to nonsense questions with a panel of celebrities; much of the humor came from the racy quips and putdowns.
[CNN]
A Cold Front Descends on Joe Z. Pussycats Mourn
Joe Zawinul, the jazz keyboardist who soared to fame as one of the creators of jazz-rock fusion with the band Weather Report, has died, a hospital official said. He was 75. In 1970, Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter founded Weather Report and produced a series of albums including "Heavy Weather," "Black Market," "I Sing the Body Electric," and the Grammy-winning live recording "8:30." Zawinul died early Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Vienna's Wilhelmina Clinic said. He had been hospitalized since last month and suffered from a rare form of skin cancer, said Risa Zincke, his manager.
[Yahoo!]
Stepien: Cut a Hole in the Box. Alternatively, Trade Lots of Draft Picks and Fire Coaches
Former Cleveland Cavaliers owner Ted Stepien, whose propensity for trading away draft picks resulted in an NBA rule change, died Monday at his home in Willoughby Hills, Ohio. He was 82. He went through six coaches during that span, including four during the 1981-82 season - Don Delaney, Bob Kloppenburg, Chuck Daly and Bill Musselman. The team finished 15-67. Because of his habit of trading draft picks for mediocre players, the league passed the "Stepien Rule," which restricts teams from dealing future first-round selections in consecutive years. "I don't feel I failed," Stepien later said. "I rescued a bankrupt organization."
[Canadian Press]
Surprisingly, He Didn't Mention Being Proud of Narrating "Captain EO"
Percy Rodrigues, who played a neurosurgeon in the 1960s series "Peyton Place" at a time when blacks were just beginning to win roles as authority figures on television, has died. He was 89. Mr. Rodrigues died of kidney failure on Sept. 6 at his home in Indio, said his wife, Karen Cook-Rodrigues. The distinguished-looking actor with a booming voice played doctors, politicians and other authorities in dozens of movie and television appearances. Mr. Rodrigues, who also acted on Broadway, "respectfully fought for these more dignified roles," his wife told the Los Angeles Times. "He was most proud of that."
[Mercury News]
For yer birthday? A pirate's whistle o' a tune for ye' (sung to t' tune o' "Blow the Man Down"):
Ye know it be yer fault we're singin' this way,
Yo! Ho! It be yer fault!
1st mate: For had we not known it be Pirate Talk Day
All: We'd be a singin' Happy Birthday!
And so we be gather'd, yer chums and ye kin
All: "Thank ye, Mates fer lettin' us in."
1st mate: to celebrate with ye for a-nother year
All: Lift up yer mugs and give 'em a cheer!
The candles be meltin' all over the cake
All: Give 'em some time to blow them all out!
1st mate: Ye better start puffin' befur it's too late!
All: Now be th' time to blow them all out! Now be the time to blow them all out.
Happy Birthday to:
September 16: Lauren Bacall (83)
September 16: Peter Falk (80)
September 16: Phyllis A. Whitney (82)
September 18: Robert Blake (74)
... And Many More!!!!!!!!
Robert Jordan did many thin's in his life, but in death he does one more: boots Die Hard from t' Top 5, puttin' Struck Down by Yahweh thar instead. Hold down t' wind sails, Die Hard, we're almost in t' home stretch...
1. El Esta Adead - 76 points (6 deaths)
2. The Ex-Parrots - 62.3 points (6 deaths)
3. Kraut's Picks - 60.9 points (8 deaths)
4. Yiz-score - 54.3 points (4 deaths)
5. Struck Down by Yahweh - 53.6 points (6 deaths)
We're shovin' off buckos,
T' Commissioner's Council
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
TWID - September 11th Edition
This Week in Death brings you: This Week in Death! Below are all the notes and news to cover a week's worth of health and death. There are more health notices than a hospital, and more death than... well, a hospital. How is Billy Graham this week? What's the latest in baseless Fidel Castro rumors? Which Music or TV persona - whom I have never heard of - died? One way to find out...
We said goodbye to Luciano Pavarotti this week. But we said it in a beautiful, alto tone. Our condolences to Domingo and the other guy. We also wished farewell to Jane Wyman. Jane, Jane gone away, will not come again, another day
Health is part of a balanced breakfast...
Bin Laden' Beard Back in Black, Alive and Not Hearing Hell's Bells
Western intelligence agencies were last night studying a personal message from Osama bin Laden, in which he apparently tells Americans they must convert to Islam if they want the war in Iraq to end. A short excerpt of the video, shown yesterday on Al-Jazeera television, appears to show bin Laden in good health. Most noticeably, his beard appears trimmed and almost entirely black. In previous images, it is gray.
[The Scotsman]
Pleshette Rid of All Those Little Cancerous Lumps, Still Has Lovely Lady Humps. Her Humps Her Humps Her Humps.
Suzanne Pleshette is very much alive, and ever her saucy self. "I'm cancer-free, my (breasts) are great and ... I'm extremely, extremely rich," she responded to a question from The Associated Press, generating howls of laughter from a packed audience. Early into the panel discussion, Pleshette noted, "I could have dropped dead. There are three doctors who kept me alive, just for tonight."
[Yahoo!]
When Life Gives Willie Nelson Aid, He Makes Farm Aid
The four musical members of the Farm Aid board (Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Willie Nelson) closed out the night. Before launching into "Homegrown," Neil Young slyly said the song "used to be about one thing now it's about another." Translation: the song was written about the glory of growing your own marijuana, but it's now about the glory of organic food grown on family farms. Willie Nelson — who knows a thing or two about both subjects — sat in on guitar.
[Rolling Stone]
Death, on the other hand, is just part of breaking you. Fast...
As the Saying Goes: Sometimes Gillmor is Less...Alive
Ohio Rep. Paul Gillmor was found dead in his apartment Wednesday, a Republican leadership aide said. The aide said the body of the 68-year-old Republican was found by staff members who went to his apartment after he failed to show up for work. There was no immediate word on the cause of his death. Gillmor's office did not respond to a reporter's call.
[CNN]
Blood Clot Means One Thing: Jennifer is D-U-N-N, Dunn
Former Rep. Jennifer Dunn, who became the most powerful Republican woman in Washington state history during six terms representing Seattle's east-side suburbs, died Wednesday after developing a blood clot in her Virginia apartment, her family said. She was 66. Dunn was known for her work on tax issues, promoting women-owned businesses and sponsoring the Amber Alert bill for locating missing children.
[New York Times]
I Know You're the Big Money Expert. Oh I'm Sorry, I Forgot, You're Dead... I'm Sorry, That Was 100% Inappropriate...
Wall Street big shot Seth Tobias was mysteriously found dead yesterday in the swimming pool of his Florida mansion, police said. Tobias' wife found the well-regarded CNBC commentator's body about 1 a.m., floating facedown in his pool in an exclusive section of Jupiter, Fla., near Palm Beach. Cops said an autopsy would be performed to determine how the brash moneyman died. "It's unusual because of his age," Pascarella said of the 44-year-old.
[NY Daily News]
Female Elvis Has Left the Building
Janis Martin, who was billed as the Female Elvis in the 1950s, died Monday (Sept. 3) from complications of cancer. She was 67. Regarded as the first female rockabilly singer, Martin was discovered as a teenager by RCA executive Steve Sholes, and in 1956 she recorded in Nashville with Chet Atkins. Her first single, "Will You, Willyum," launched her pop music career and led to several high-profile TV appearances, but she retired within a few years to raise a family. At the time of her death, she was still a popular draw in Europe and had several rockabilly festival dates booked.
[Country Music Television]
Miyoshi Says Sayonarra, Will Be Mourned by Mitoad and Mibowzer
Miyoshi Umeki, 78, a Japanese-born singer and actress who became the first Asian performer to win an Academy Award -- for "Sayonara" (1957) -- and who played a housekeeper on the TV series "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," died Aug. 28 at the Licking Park Manor nursing home in Licking, Mo. She had cancer.
[Washington Post]
This Week Was Somebody's Birthday! Whose Birthday? Some Death Pool Entrants' Birthdays. How Old Are They? 1,2,3... And Never been Kissed By... Death
Happy Birthday to:
September 7: Michael E. DeBakey (99)
September 8: Sid Caesar (85)
September 9: Phyllis A. Whitney (104)
September 10: Arnold Palmer (78)
September 11: Bashar al-Assad (42)
... And Many More!!!!!!!!
Pavarotti's death this week helps the 2nd and 3rd-place teams close in on the leader, but there is no change in the Top 5, who remain...
1. El Esta Adead - 76 points (6 deaths)
2. The Ex-Parrots - 62.3 points (6 deaths)
3. Kraut's Picks - 60.9 points (8 deaths)
4. Yiz-score - 54.3 points (4 deaths)
5. Die Hard - 48.3 points (4 deaths)
TWID, Nutritious as always.. Now with more fiber!
The Commissioner's Council
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
TWID - Labor Day Edition
This Week in Death brings you: This Week in Death! Below are all the notes and news to cover a week's worth of health and death. There are more health notices than a hospital, and more death than... well, a hospital. How is Billy Graham this week? What's the latest in baseless Fidel Castro rumors? Which Music or TV persona - whom I have never heard of - died? One way to find out...
Life was points-less this week. As always, health comes first. Eddie Vedder said it best, "Is something wrong, she said. Well of course there is. You're still alive, she said..."
Tim-ber! Johnson Falls Back Into Senate Seat
Sen. Tim Johnson, a Democrat who has been recovering from brain surgery since December, plans to return to his Senate office on September 5, his office said on Wednesday. Johnson will be in his home state of South Dakota for the next few days before returning to Washington and he "plans to be in his Senate office and on the Senate floor on Wednesday, September 5th," according to his office.
[Reuters]
Back to Home, Back to Home. Billy's Got his Lunch Packed Up and His Boots Tied Tight, I Hope He Doesn't Get in a Fight. Seriously, It Would Kill Him
Evangelist Billy Graham may be able to return home this week from the hospital where he has been treated for more than a week for intestinal bleeding, doctors said Wednesday. Graham, 88, is continuing his program of exercise, physical therapy and full meals to rebuild his strength, said Merrill Gregory, a spokeswoman for Mission Health & Hospitals in Asheville.
[Washington Post]
Much Like Lindsay Lohan, Bouteflika Tired of Rumors Starting, Tired of Being Followed. Why Can't We Just Let Him Live?
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said Tuesday he was upset vis-à-vis the rumours on "his health deterioration". While visiting Sheikh Yossef Al Qaradaoui in Ain Naadja military hospital, the President seemed as if complaining as he was telling him: "I wish I could visit you the day you've been sent to hospital, but I decided to postpone the visit to avoid speculations about my alleged illness."
[El Khabar]
Fidel Fit? Finding Facts Feels Futile
There is no reason to believe that Cuban President Fidel Castro's life is in danger as he convalesces, Culture Minister Abel Prieto said late on Friday. The statement came amid a wave of rumours, especially among the Cuban-American community in Florida, that Cuba's long-time communist leader, who has not been seen in public since undergoing surgery over a year ago, is either dead or on his deathbed. "I have no element that leads me to believe that the life of Fidel is in danger," Prieto told reporters.
[iafrica.com]
Death? Eddie Vedder said it best, "I'm gone, Long gone, This time I'm letting go of it all, So long, This time I'm gone"
Gardner's Heart Shaken; Won't Stir
John Gardner, a prolific British thriller writer who wrote more novels about Bond — James Bond — than Ian Fleming did, died on Aug. 3 after collapsing near his home in Basingstoke, England. He was 80. The cause was heart failure, said his daughter Alexis Walmsley. Mr. Gardner wrote four dozen books in a career of more than 40 years. He was best known for the 14 Bond novels he wrote in the 1980s and '90s, which officially continued the work of Bond's creator, Fleming.
[New York Times]
No Use Crying Over Shattered Kristal; Hilly is Cold, Buried, Gone, Bye
Hilly Kristal, who founded CBGB, the Bowery bar that became the cradle of punk and art-rock in New York in the 1970s and served as the inspiration for musician-friendly rock dives throughout the world, died in Manhattan on Tuesday. He was 75. From its opening in late 1973, when Mr. Kristal, a lover of acoustic music, gave the club its name, an abbreviation of the kinds of music he originally intended to feature there — country, bluegrass and blues, CBGB presented thousands of bands within its eternally crumbling, flyer-encrusted walls.
[New York Times]
Richard - A Jewell of a Man. A Gem of a Person. A Diamond in the Rough. A Sapph--- OK, We're Good Now. Sorry About That
Richard A. Jewell, whose transformation from heroic security guard to Olympic bombing suspect and back again came to symbolize the excesses of law enforcement and the news media, died Wednesday at his home in Woodbury, Ga. He was 44. Mr. Jewell died of natural causes and that he had battled serious medical problems since learning he had diabetes in February.
[New York Times]
♫ No.... one... dies like Gaston ♫
Gaston Thorn, former prime minister of Luxembourg and president of the European Commission, died Sunday. He was 78. A longtime politician and businessman, Mr. Thorn led the government in the tiny Grand Duchy of Luxembourg from 1974 to 1979. He was known as a strong advocate of European integration.
[New York Times]
Nautilus's Mr. Jones Tells Fairy Tales and Stares at (and Marries) Beautiful Women
Arthur Jones, a wild-animal enthusiast, filmmaker and entrepreneur whose Nautilus fitness machines helped to transform the fitness industry and the way ordinary people exercise, died on Tuesday at his home in Ocala, Fla. He was 80. Mr. Jones died of natural causes, his son William Edgar Jones said. Mr. Jones was a rough-and-tumble character who had six wives, a nearly lifelong smoking habit and an affection for exotic animals like rattlesnakes and crocodiles, which he kept at his farm, the younger Mr. Jones said.
[New York Times]
This Week Was Somebody's Birthday! Whose Birthday? Some Death Pool Entrants' Birthdays. How Old Are They? 1,2,3... And Never been Kissed By... Death
Happy Birthday to:
August 30: Rich Cronin (32)
September 2: Meinhardt Raabe (92)
... And Many More!!!!!!!!
No points deaths this week means no change in the Top 5, who remain...
1. El Esta Adead - 76 points (6 deaths)
2. The Ex-Parrots - 58.5 points (5 deaths)
3. Kraut's Picks - 57.1 points (7 deaths)
4. Yiz-score - 54.3 points (4 deaths)
5. Die Hard - 46 points (4 deaths)
Eddie Vedder said it best again, "Can't find a better TWID"...
The Commissioner's Council
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
TWID - Dog Days of August Edition
" Life is for Living," says Coldplay. "Health is for Updates" says TWID...
Graham's Golden Ages Crumbling, Can Soon Ask God "How Do You Cram All That Me?"
Evangelist Billy Graham experienced a third intestinal bleed Wednesday, but doctors say he remains in fair condition. Physicians plan more definitive tests to determine the cause and source of the bleeds. Graham, 88, has been hospitalized since an initial bleed Saturday.Graham, who suffers from a variety of ailments including Parkinson's disease and age-related macular degeneration, has been largely confined to his home in recent years.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0
Pavaroti Departs Modena, Too Sick to Journey to Mecca?
Ailing Italian opera star Luciano Pavarotti has been discharged from hospital in northern Modena where he was admitted more than two weeks ago with a fever, the hospital said on Saturday. Pavarotti will "be able to continue to convalesce in the serenity of his family surroundings, where he can count on the close collaboration of the doctors of the Department of Oncology and Haematology," it said.
http://www.news24.com/News24
Castro joins Tupac, Biggie, and Cobain as (Possibly) Posthumous Publisher
Fidel Castro signed a lengthy essay published Sunday saluting a Cuban political figure but the 81-year-old gave no hint of how he is feeling, even amid rampant rumors of his death. Castro has not been seen in public in over a year and has not even appeared in official photographs or video footage since taping an interview with Cuban state television June 5.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD
Is it Because We Suck at Soccer?
Former Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona on Sunday said he hates the United States "with all my strength" during an appearance on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's weekly television show. The leftist soccer legend, like the fiercely anti-U.S. Chavez, is a close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro.
http://www.washingtonpost.com
Comatose Sharon: "Consider me an Object;" No Word on if He'll be Hanging Upside Down or Where he Will Swing
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remains comatose and attached to a respirator nearly two years after a devastating stroke, a spokesman for Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv said Sunday. "There is no change in his condition," hospital spokesman David Weinberg said. Sharon, 79, was transferred to Sheba's long-term respiratory rehabilitation unit in July 2006 from Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, which treated him after his stroke in January of that year.
http://www.washingtonpost.com
"Death is Point(s)less"...
Griffin's Crash Scene More Gruesome to Watch than Deuce Bigalow - Norbit Double Feature
Former Minnesota Timberwolves forward Eddie Griffin died last week when his sport utility vehicle collided with a freight train in a fiery crash, the Harris County medical examiner's office said Tuesday. Investigators used dental records to identify Griffin, 25, who was waived by the Timberwolves in March."The cause of death and manner of death, which also includes toxicology results, is pending," said Beverly Begay, chief investigator for the Harris County Medical Examiner's office.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba
Too Many Brewskies for Brewster, Too Much Live for His Liver
Daniel Baugh Brewster, 83, a decorated Marine Corps veteran and former Democratic U.S. senator from Maryland whose career was shadowed by alcoholism and a charge of accepting an illegal gratuity, died Aug. 19 of liver cancer at his home in Owings Mills, Md. "He served his country in war and in peace. Although brought low by alcoholism, he overcame that illness to lead a successful and productive life," Steny Hoyer said in a statement.
http://www.washingtonpost.com
A TWID Haiku: Beloved Poet, And World Famous Novelist. Say Goodnight Gracie.
Poet and short story writer Grace Paley, a literary eminence and old-fashioned rebel who described herself as a "combative pacifist," has died. She was 84. A published writer since the 1950s, Paley released only a handful of books over the next half century, mostly short stories and poems. Her fiction, although highly praised, competed for time with work, activism, family and friends. "None of it happened, and yet every word of it is true," she once said of her fiction.
http://www.cnn.com/2007
This is the Sound of Settling: Death Cab for Betty
Betty Matas, the Queens woman who made national headlines in April when she and her husband took a cross-country taxi ride to their new retirement home in Sedona, Ariz., died on Monday in Cottonwood, Ariz. She was 75. Betty and Bob Matas hired a New York cabdriver, Douglas Guldeniz, to drive them the 2,500 miles to Sedona to spare their two cats a trip in an airplane cargo hold. Both of the Matases had spent their lives in the New York area, and neither had ever learned to drive.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08
"Go Sox Go, Go Sox Go! Hey Chicago What Do You Say? Sox are Gonna Die Today!"
Charles Albert "Chuck" Comiskey II, grandson and namesake of the Chicago White Sox founder and a former front-office executive and co-owner during the "Go Go Sox" years in the 1950s, has died. He was 81. While his family name is one of the best-known in Chicago sports history, Comiskey left his own mark in helping to successfully remake the team en route to its first American League pennant in 40 years in 1959.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb
This Week Was Somebody's Birthday! Whose Birthday? Some Death Pool Entrants' Birthdays. How Old Are They? 1,2,3... And Never been Kissed By... Death
Happy Birthday to:
August 22: Ray Bradbury (87)
August 25: Sean Connery (77)
August 25: Van Johnson (91)
... And Many More!!!!!!!!
Back by popular demand, the Commissioner's Council proudly brings you "Skinny Dipping," a weekly glance at some of the goings-on in the Pool. Columns will feature a more in-depth look at some of the squads and picks. To comment on this feature, or suggest an idea for "Skinny Dipping," feel free to send an email our way.
Every week, TWID publishes the Top 5 leaders in the standings. Two numbers are listed alongside the team names: the points total, and the number of deaths recorded to date. While the winner of the pool is obviously the one who scores the most points, picking a high number of deaths should certainly be acknowledged. To date, Kraut's Picks, currently 3rd in points, has the highest number of points deaths, with 7. Following him with 6 deaths each are points leader El Esta Adead , Go to Hell (7th in points), Life's a Bitch (8th), and Mine are the Deadest (12th). That's right - the 1st-place team and 12th-place team have recorded the same amount of deaths. The difference is El Esta Adead's deaths include one solo shot for 20 and a pair of 15-pointers. Mine are the Deadest's largest score was 15, and the next-highest score was 7.5. Meanwhile a pair of teams with 4 deaths recorded are 4th and 5th in the standings. Points per death, as determined by popularity of the pick, obviously plays a huge role in the standings, something worth thinking about as DP 2007 heads into the fall stretch and DP 2008 preparations begin.
No points deaths this week means no change in the Top 5, who remain...
1. El Esta Adead - 76 points (6 deaths)
2. The Ex-Parrots - 58.5 points (5 deaths)
3. Kraut's Picks - 57.1 points (7 deaths)
4. Yiz-score - 54.3 points (4 deaths)
5. Die Hard - 46 points (4 deaths)
Will people continue to die? Will TWID continue to come up with funny headlines for them??? Tune in next week — same Death-time, same Death-channel!
The Commissioner's Council
Monday, August 20, 2007
TWID - Lemonade Day Edition
We bid farewell to three New York icons this week: Phil Rirruto (those are z's), who sanctified many cows in his career, though probably not among them was Leona Helmsley, a notoriously bitter miser, especially when compared to Brooke Astor, who by all accounts was a gregarious, generous GILF.
A toast: Here's to your Health Updates...
Manager and Wife Clash: Should He Stay or Should He Go?
Luciano Pavarotti has been given the go-ahead by doctors to leave the hospital where he was admitted last week with a fever, but he plans to remain for a few more days just to be sure, his wife said Tuesday. Manager Terri Robson had said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that Pavarotti, 71, would be leaving the hospital in Modena "imminently" after doctors had "happily given him the go-ahead to leave hospital and resume his summer holiday." Later in the day, however, the opera superstar's wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, told reporters outside the clinic that he had chosen to remain for a few more days because he feels more tranquil there than at home, the ANSA news agency reported.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap
Hospital officials say evangelist Billy Graham had an "excellent night" and is in fair condition today as he recovers from an intestinal bleed. The 88-year-old evangelist is being treated at Mission Health & Hospitals in Asheville, North Carolina. No date has been set for Graham's release, but family members say they hope his hospital stay will be brief. On his web site, Graham writes, "God doesn't want our relationship with Him to be like this, and He has provided us with everything we need to grow closer to Him every day."
Johnson's Brain Back at Full Throttle, Anxious to Filbuster
South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson will face his constituents for the first time since suffering a brain hemorrhage last December, making a long-awaited public appearance in his home state later this month. Johnson, a Democrat, will appear in Sioux Falls on Aug. 28, his office announced Thursday. He is expected to return to the Senate in September.
http://www.siouxcityjournal
Why Is This Man Happy? Because He's 368 in Dog Years
For a minute I'm trying to remember whether I've come to see Jack LaLanne or Robin Williams. But I learn a lot from LaLanne - quick. First, he's 92, not 180. And this guy could bench-press me. With one hand. Turns out I'm the proverbial 98-pound weakling, facing down the 92-year-old he-man. "The Jack LaLanne Show" aired for 34 years. What kept them tuning in? LaLanne says he tried to get fans to think positively by peppering his fitness instruction with cheery aphorisms ("Train for life like an athletic event!"). He also made fitness fun—even bringing pets on the show. Clad in his trademark jumpsuit, LaLanne did crunches, then his dog, Happy, did tricks. "It kept the ratings up," he recalls.
http://www.mercurynews.com
Sometimes, though, you're just toast. Death...
Grand Papa Roach Squished by the Foot of God
Max Roach, the master percussionist whose rhythmic innovations and improvisations defined bebop jazz during a wide-ranging career where he collaborated with artists from Duke Ellington to rapper Fab Five Freddy, has died after a long illness. He was 83. The self-taught musical prodigy died Wednesday night at an undisclosed hospital in Manhattan, said Cem Kurosman, spokesman for Blue Note Records, one of Roach's labels. What distinguished Roach from other drummers were his fast hands and ability to simultaneously maintain several rhythms. By layering different beats and varying the meter, Roach pushed jazz beyond the boundaries of standard 4/4 time. His dislocated beats helped define bebop.
http://www.cnn.com/2007
Leave it to Deaver. Um...Deaver Left
Michael K. Deaver, who arranged some of Ronald Reagan's most memorable photographic backdrops for public consumption and privately gave the president blunt, sometimes contrarian advice, died yesterday at his home in Bethesda, Md. He was 69. The cause was pancreatic cancer, his family said. Mr. Deaver was widely known for creating photo ops that showed Reagan atop the Great Wall of China, at the cliffs of Normandy and filling sandbags to show concern after a Louisiana flood. And he played a central role in planning Reagan's funeral in 2004; the last visual was burial as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08
Behind Every Good Woman's Death Is a Goodman
Carolyn Goodman, 91, the mother of one of three civil rights workers killed by the Ku Klux Klan in the renowned "Mississippi Burning" case, died Aug. 17, it was reported from New York. No cause of death was reported. Mrs. Goodman's son Andrew was killed June 21, 1964, in central Mississippi's Neshoba County, along with fellow civil rights workers Michael Schwerner and James Chaney. Carolyn Goodman was a psychologist who founded a program to help mothers leaving mental hospitals learn parenting skills. She set up the Andrew Goodman Foundation in 1966 to carry on her son's legacy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com
Phake Peter Pan who Phone Pranked a Peck of Peculiar Phreaks has Passed
A blind genius known as the "Peter Pan of phone hackers" because he insisted on being five years old forever has died in Minneapolis at the age of 58. Joe Engressia, who legally changed his name to Joybubbles in 1991, played a pivotal role in the 1970s subculture of "phone phreaks" after discovering at a young age that he could make free phone calls by whistling tones, The New York Times reported Monday. The precursors of today's computer hackers, the reign of phone phreaks ended when digitalization replaced the tone-based system.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack
This Week Was Somebody's Birthday! Whose Birthday? Some Death Pool Entrants' Birthdays. How Old Are They? 1,2,3... And Never been Kissed By... Death
Happy Birthday to:
August 14: Earl Weaver (77)
August 17: W. Mark Felt (94)
August 19: Bill Clinton (61)
... And Many More!!!!!!!!
Back by popular demand, the Commissioner's Council proudly brings you "Skinny Dipping," a weekly glance at some of the goings-on in the Pool. Columns will feature a more in-depth look at some of the squads and picks. To comment on this feature, or suggest an idea for "Skinny Dipping," feel free to send an email our way.
The last two weeks, Skinny Dipping has looked at age extremes and age breakdown by 10-year intervals. In this thrilling final installation of looking closer at dates of birth, we present a quick glance at a breakdown by the month of birth. Legend has it (or, possibly reported in many news outlets) that there are more births during summer than any other season. Well what about DP's 272 picks with known birth dates? (9 have known birth years but not dates, 2 have neither) Here's the breakdown --- January: 27; February: 24; March: 30; April: 19, May: 18; June: 18; July: 30; August: 21; September: 22; October: 29; November: 15; December: 19. That's 70 in the winter months, 67 in the spring, 69 in the summer, and 66 in the fall. So while the commonfolk may breed more in the heat of summer, it is clear that celebrities are more evenly proportioned. Oh, and since you were wondering: the most popular date of birth among the pool picks is July 4th, celebrated by an astonishing six people. Al Davis, the recently departed Leona Helmsley, Pauline Phillips, Alfredo Di Stéfano , George Steinbrenner, and Gloria Stuart all share a birthday with our nation. The rest of the pool is obviously less patriotic.
Three points-deaths this week, who's up for a change in the Top 5? We are! Kraut's Picks, a recent addition to the Top 5, has jumped two spots since we last checked in. The 5...
1. El Esta Adead - 76 points (6 deaths)
2. The Ex-Parrots - 58.5 points (5 deaths)
3. Kraut's Picks - 57.1 points (7 deaths)
4. Yiz-score - 54.3 points (4 deaths)
5. Die Hard - 46 points (3 deaths)
Come sail away, as next week our full boat returns...
The Commissioner's Council
Monday, August 13, 2007
TWID - Road Trip Edition
This Week in Death brings you: A welcome relief from the summer heat! Hop a fence with us and join in on the fun. Get your beach balls inflated and your swim trunks on. Jump in so we can catch you up on the veritable ocean of news you need to know to be an educated death pool competitor. Don't forget to bring a towel! There's plenty of room for everyone, especially during the next week and a half. Death Pool has just been handed an urgent news story and it needs all of you to stop what your doing and listen... Cannonball!
We may not have it all, but at least we have our Health Updates...
Don't Worry, Your Job'll Be Waiting for You When You Get Back. Get better, George! Get betteeeeeeeeer!!!!!
New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner is in ailing health, according to a lengthy story about him in the upcoming issue of Portfolio magazine. "He doesn't look all right. In fact, he looks dreadful," reporter Franz Lidz writes in the story, which hits newsstands Aug. 15. "Steinbrenner's face, pale and swollen, has a curiously undefined look." Lidz recounts a visit to Steinbrenner's home with Tom McEwen, a longtime Steinbrenner friend, in which Steinbrenner answers a series of different questions, including inquiries about his wife, Joan, by saying, "Great to see ya, Tommy."
http://www.sportingnews.com
Biggs' iPod Playlist Update: Artist - The Strokes; Album - Is This It? Song: Alone, Together
Ronnie Biggs, one of the masterminds of Britain's Great Train Robbery in 1963, is making a renewed bid to be released from jail on compassionate grounds, his lawyers said on Friday. The 77-year-old, who is partially paralyzed and can barely speak after suffering several strokes, wants to spend his remaining years with his family.
http://iafrica.com/news
http://www.contactmusic.com
An Opera in Three Parts... Act I: Dramatic Hospitalization; Act II: Wondrous Recovery; Stay Tuned for Act III
Opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti, diagnosed with cancer last year, is doing better after being admitted to hospital two days ago, his wife said on Friday. Pavarotti, 71, regarded by many as the greatest tenor of his generation, was taken to hospital with a high fever in his home town of Modena on Wednesday. He is being treated in the hospital's cancer ward. "He is doing better, thank you," Pavarotti's wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, who is 34 years his junior, told reporters as she left the cancer ward on Friday morning.
http://www.cnn.com/2007
And if you haven't got your health, what have you got? Death...
I'll Take Dead TV Legends for 800, Please: R __ S T I N P __ A C __
His birth name was Mervyn, but the world knew him as Merv Griffin. The 82-year-old died Sunday after being hospitalized earlier in the week for a recurrence of prostate cancer. Born in San Mateo, Calif., Griffin created two of the most popular game shows in syndicated history. "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" remain in production more than two decades after they began. He even wrote the theme music for "Jeopardy!" Beginning in the early 1960's, Griffin was a fixture on daytime TV. The 32-time Emmy nominee actually escorted 17 golden gals home for his work on "The Merv Griffin Show," according to the official website for Griffin's company, The Griffin Group.
http://www.abcnews.go.com
Hazlewood Walked Over by Renal Cancer, Given the Boot from Life
Lee Hazlewood, the reclusive songwriter and producer behind a slew of hits by Duane Eddy, Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin in the 1950s and 1960s, including Ms. Sinatra's No. 1 smash "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," died on Saturday in Henderson, Nev. He was 78. The cause was renal cancer, said his publicist, Perry Serpa.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08
Wine Prolongs Lives; Heart Attacks End Them
Baron Elie Robert de Rothschild, who helped France's renowned Rothschild winemaking and banking dynasty recover from the ravages of World War II, died Monday while vacationing at his Austrian hunting lodge. He was 90. Rothschild had been on a hunting trip at his lodge near the Alpine village of Scharnitz outside Innsbruck when he suffered a fatal heart attack, police in the province of Tyrol said in a statement.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap
No Word Whether He Died In Order to Promote MGM's Upcoming "Death at a Funeral"
Frank Rosenfelt, who as chairman and CEO of MGM Studios helped green-light such classic movies as Network and Doctor Zhivago, has died. He was 85. Rosenfelt died Thursday at his Los Angeles home, his granddaughter, Stacey Lubliner, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. She did not know the cause of death. Rosenfelt, a lawyer, joined MGM in 1955 after spending five years in the legal department of RKO. He became MGM's general counsel in 1969 and was named studio chief after mogul Kirk Kerkorian bought MGM in 1972.
http://www.usatoday.com/life
This Week Was Somebody's Birthday! Whose Birthday? Some Death Pool Entrants' Birthdays. How Old Are They? 1,2,3... And Never been Kissed By... Death
Happy Birthday to:
August 7: Walid Jumblatt (58)
August 8: Ronnie Biggs (78)
August 10: Doyle Brunson (74)
August 10: Tom Laughlin (76)
August 13: Fidel Castro (81)
August 13: Dan Fogelberg (56)
... And Many More!!!!!!!!
Back by popular demand, the Commissioner's Council proudly brings you "Skinny Dipping," a weekly glance at some of the goings-on in the Pool. Columns will feature a more in-depth look at some of the squads and picks. To comment on this feature, or suggest an idea for "Skinny Dipping," feel free to send an email our way.
Last week in this space, entrants' ages, maybe the most popular factor in deciding picks, was given a closer look. Since having an age is something everybody has in common, another look at the data is certainly appropriate. You might even learn a few new words in the process! As noted last week, the oldest pool pick is Ruby Muhammed, currently 110 years young, making her the lone supercentenarian (Age ≥ 110) in the pool. Joining her are 11 centenarians (Age ≥ 100), which means 4% of the pool is living life in triple digits. Of the remaining 269 with known birth years, as of today's date 59 entrants are nonagenarians, 79 are octogenarians, 67 are septugenarians, 28 are sexagenarians, 18 are quinquagenarians, 12 are quadragenarians, 3 are tricenarians, and 3 are vicenarians. As of today, the average age is 78.2; the median age is 81.
Reminding you that Death claimed 42,642 people on the road in 2006, we remain...
Monday, August 6, 2007
TWID - National Underwear Day Edition
We lost two of our own this week: Bill Walsh, who invented the West Coast offense, and Oliver W. Hill, who would have fought for his right to do it.
A Health is a guy who can't get no love, but he's also known as a buster....
Notorious B.I.G.G.S. Better Hope for "Life after Death"
Great Train robber Ronnie Biggs was feared close to death in jail last night. Biggs, 77, is in a specially designed "nursing home" for elderly prisoners at Norwich jail. And the prison chaplain is on standby to administer the last rites. He has skin cancer, heart trouble and MRSA. A family friend said: "Ronnie is ready to go free at last. He has put up a brave fight but his health has deteriorated so badly lately that he can't go on."
http://www.people.co.uk/news
Otto Has a Case of the Jim-my Legs. Well, Leg, Really
Hall of Fame center Jim Otto recently had his right leg amputated and is recovering in a hospital in Utah. Otto, 69, has had a litany of health problems. He has had prostate cancer, two major infections that nearly killed him and approximately 40 operations - mostly on his banged-up knees from playing football. "It's been, as you know with him, a tremendous fight," Al Davis said. "He's lived through it now for three years, day in and day out. But it finally came. He fought the amputation. He didn't want it. He fought it. But there was no other thing to do but to amputate."
http://www.usatoday.com/sports
Think LaLanne's Age Is a Problem? You Don't Know Jack!
Decades before the obesity epidemic, Jack LaLanne took his exercise crusade to the airwaves, showing Americans, who were just becoming enamored of television, how they could stay active while they watched their favorite programs. Moderation remains his mantra. His healthy habits -- and a few good genes -- account for his longevity. What he stumbled upon as a teenager and built as an adult have helped him to age well.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com
http://www.medindia.net/news
Living Till 150? Well, We've Heard You Can't Always Get What You Want
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is a well known rock 'n ' roll survivor, but his latest statement is pushing it somewhat. Keith told a magazine he wants to live till the age of 150. Keith, who had an operation on his brain last year after falling off a shrub, said that after a few tests the docs were surprised at the condition of his body."The doctors were amazed to see that the heart, liver, kidneys were all perfect," he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes
Ryan Finds that Not Everything Goes in the Throat So Easily
A one-time Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to molesting a 6-year-old boy on Long Island slashed his throat the day before he was to go to jail. Barry Ryan, 59, survived the suicide attempt, said Suffolk County district attorney spokesman Robert Clifford. Ryan pleaded guilty in 2004 to sexual conduct against a child in the second degree for forcing the boy to perform oral sex the year before.
http://www.nypost.com/seven
No, I don't want no death, a death is a guy who can't get no love from me...
Pottasch's Joy of Pepsi Didn't Stop Him from Making the Choice of a New Termination
Alan M. Pottasch, who became known as the "father of the Pepsi Generation" for leading the team that devised exuberant commercials in the 1960s and '70s that linked Pepsi-Cola to the likes of skydivers and skateboarders, died Friday in Los Angeles. He was 79 and lived in New Fairfield, Conn.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08
Death to B5, Death Takes Bishop; At Least He'll Always Have Paris
Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, a Jew who converted to Catholicism and rose through church hierarchy to become one of the most influential Roman Catholic figures in France, died Sunday, the Paris archbishop's office said. He was 80. Lustiger was archbishop of Paris for 24 years before stepping down in 2005 at the age of 78. He died in a medical center in Paris, the archbishop's office said.
http://www.oregonlive.com
Gabler Was a Textbook Case of Affecting the Accepted Norm-a
Norma Gabler, a Texas homemaker who recoiled at material in her children's textbooks and became the public face of a crusade with her husband to rid schoolbooks of content they considered anti-family, anti-American and anti-God, died on July 22 in Phoenix. She was 84. The Gablers had a two-barreled strategy: in addition to pressing issues of ideology, interpretation and philosophy, the Gablers ferreted out errors of fact. But the Gablers' most important battles concerned bigger issues, like making publishers define marriage as a lifelong union between a man and a woman.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08
First Ingmar Bergman, then Michelangelo Antonioni... If We Were Roberto Benigni, We'd Stay Alert
Michelangelo Antonioni, one of Italy's most famous and influential filmmakers, has died at the age of 94, city officials in Rome say. Considered the cinematic father of modern angst and alienation, Antonioni had a career spanning six decades which included the Oscar-nominated "Blow-Up" and the internationally acclaimed "L'Avventura" (The Adventure).
http://www.cnn.com/2007
This Week Was Somebody's Birthday! Whose Birthday? Some Death Pool Entrants' Birthdays. How Old Are They? 1,2,3... And Never been Kissed By... Death
Happy Birthday to:
August 1: Sheldon Adelson (74)
August 2: Peter O'Toole (75)
August 2: Shimon Peres (84)
August 4: Barack Obama (46)
August 4: Anita Page (97)
August 4: Helen Thomas (87)
August 5: William H. Smith (102)
August 6: Dom Mintoff (91)
... And Many More!!!!!!!!
Back by popular demand, the Commissioner's Council proudly brings you "Skinny Dipping," a weekly glance at some of the goings-on in the Pool. Columns will feature a more in-depth look at some of the squads and picks. To comment on this feature, or suggest an idea for "Skinny Dipping," feel free to send an email our way.
With this week's TWID introducing the new birthday section, Skinny Dipping felt it would be a good time to analyze a key aspect of the pool: entrants' ages. Of the 281 entrants (out of 283, but you knew that already) with known birth years, 11 entered the 2007 year over the age of 100. The oldest pool member is currently 110: Ruby Muhammed, Mother of the Nation of Islam. The youngest? Former football player Maurice Clarett, currently 23 years young. The average age of the 281 is 77.5 years old. What about the 28 (so far) points deaths? Glad you asked. The oldest death to register points was Charles Lane, who passed away after 102 years and 165 days of life. The youngest has been Marcheline Bertrand, who passed on at the age of 56 years, 263 days. The average age of the 28 coming into 2007 is (or, more accurately, was) 84.2 years old.
We're going to sit on the passenger's side of our best friend's ride
The Commissioner's Council
Monday, July 30, 2007
TWID - National Cheesecake Day Edition
This Week in Death brings you: Our return to general swim! Get your beach balls inflated and your swim trunks on. Jump in so we can catch you up on the veritable ocean of news you need to know to be an educated death pool competitor. Don't forget to bring a towel! Oh, and put on some sunscreen, we don't want you to end up in here. Death Pool has just been handed an urgent news story and it needs all of you to stop what your doing and listen... Cannonball!
I'm a Health nut, and with no deaths this week, it's cashew to start...
Born Survivor Grylled over Whereabouts: Can't Bear Outdoors
Discovery Channel is re-evaluating one of its most popular series, "Man vs. Wild," after allegations surfaced that its survival-expert host was bunking in motels when he was supposed to be braving the great outdoors.The network issued a statement Monday in response to an investigation launched by British television network Channel 4, which carries the program under the title "Born Survivor: Bear Grylls." Channel 4 confirmed that host Bear Grylls had partaken of indoor accommodations on at least two occasions when his series had depicted him spending the night in the wild.
http://www.reuters.com/article
ok, so this mite not in actual qualfy to be a real like health update but we thoght u should knpow whats up
Courtney Love is planning more corrective surgery to fix her "wonky" lips.In a bizarre posting on her MySpace page, the former Hole singer revealed she is still unhappy with her looks, despite having surgery to remove her breast implants and alter her cosmetically enhanced lips.Courtney wrote: "my mouth still looks wonky, i think i gott go back to paris tot he dr, hes nit a cosmetic surgeon he just fixes bad surgery and also cleft palates and serious s--- its nbot really vanity hes conservtive, wich we like, and this really isnt znyones business but im hating that id di that to my mouth back in the day and he didnt really take out enough the first time around i just wnt the mouth god gave me back, it was perfectly cute."
http://www.londonnet.co.uk
Maradona Putting the Go, but not the Die, in Diego
After recovering from his alcohol addiction Argentine football legend Diego Maradona will return to the football field to participate with friends in a match of "showball" against Uruguay on the fifth of August in Santa Fe, Argentina. Maradona, who has a history of health problems related to drug and alcohol abuse, will return to the football field after being given the thumbs up. Maradona, who will turn 47 in October, has not been seen exercising since leaving the clinic more than two months ago. But he has already affirmed to the press that he will be in good shape for the match.
http://goal.com/en/Articolo
Munchkin Coroner Is "Really, Most Sincerely Alive," Will Leave Tiny Handprints in Hollywood Sidewalk
The Munchkins are finally getting their due. The 124 little people from the 1939 movie "Wizard of Oz" are slated to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next year. That's good news to 91-year-old Meinhardt Raabe (RAH'-bee). He played the Munchkin coroner, who proclaimed the Wicked Witch of the East "really, most sincerely dead." He says he never tires of Munchkin fame. The four-foot-seven Raabe lives in Florida, but he says he'll be at the star dedication ceremony.
http://www.kbsd6.com/Global
Oh, death, you slay me...
Failed to Heed Warning: Danger, Bill Robinson!
Bill Robinson, who played on Pittsburgh's 1979 World Series championship team and was working as the Los Angeles Dodgers' minor league hitting coordinator, died Sunday. He was 64. "Bill was a wonderful family man and a great baseball player, coach, manager and friend to everyone he met," Dodger general manager Ned Colletti said. "Even though he never played for the Dodgers, it was an honor that he chose to be a part of the organization. Everyone he came into contact with was better for having known him."
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb
Death Imitates Art: Checkmate, Bergman
Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, an iconoclastic filmmaker widely regarded as one of the great masters of modern cinema, died Monday, the president of his foundation said. He was 89. "It's an unbelievable loss for Sweden, but even more so internationally," Astrid Soderbergh Widding, president of The Ingmar Bergman Foundation. He was "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera," Woody Allen said in a 70th birthday tribute in 1988. "The Seventh Seal," released in 1957, riveted critics and audiences. An allegorical tale of the medieval Black Plague years, it contains one of cinema's most famous scenes -- a knight playing chess with the shrouded figure of Death.
http://www.cnn.com/2007
Prosser's Demon Deacons Got the Best of Him
Skip Prosser, who led Wake Forest to its first basketball No. 1 ranking three seasons ago, died Thursday of an apparent heart attack, the university said. He was 56. Prosser was found slumped on his office couch and unresponsive by the director of basketball operations, Mike Muse, shortly after returning from his noon jog, the athletics director, Ron Wellman, said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07
This Is a Story About a Woman Named Odile Crick, She Was Not Saved by Her Wristwatch
Odile Crick, an artist whose original sketch of the double helix of DNA, the genetic blueprint for life, became a symbol of modern molecular biology, died July 5 at her home in La Jolla, Calif. She was 86.The cause was cancer, said her stepson, Michael Crick, who said the family had not announced Mrs. Crick's death until last week.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07
No Tomorrow for Snyder, so Fire up a Colortini, Sit Back, Relax, and Watch Tom Snyder, now, as he Flies through the Air towards Heaven
Talk show host Tom Snyder, whose smoke-filled interviews were a staple of late night television, has died after a struggle with leukemia. He was 71. Known for his improvised, casual style and robust laughter, Snyder conducted a number of memorable interviews as host of NBC's "The Tomorrow Show." Among his guests were John Lennon, Charles Manson and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols. His catch phrase for the show was: "Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air." Snyder smoked throughout his show, the cigarette cloud swirling around him during interviews.
http://www.cnn.com/2007
Back by popular demand, the Commissioner's Council proudly brings you "Skinny Dipping," a weekly glance at some of the goings-on in the Pool. Columns will feature a more in-depth look at some of the squads and picks. To comment on this feature, or suggest an idea for "Skinny Dipping," feel free to send an email our way.
Three weeks ago in this space, Skinny Dipping told you about the 5 most popular picks, 2 of whom have since passed on. But where's the skinny (pun intended) on the opposite end of this Death spectrum, the least-popular picks? Well, here's the deal: there were 165 picks (58% of the entire pool) that qualify as "solo shots"; a death by one of the 165 would reward its owner with 20 points. Why such a large number? For starters, 30 different people are bound to come up with many different names. In many cases, these picks are unique because they are either young, in good health, or both, and were only chosen due to total guesswork, or, in some cases, spiteful hope. In other cases, however, thorough research can produce rewarding picks. To wit: 11 of the 26 points-related deaths this year have been solo shots, providing 220 out of the 670 awarded points to this point.
After two weeks of borderline chaos - chaos! - in the Top 5, this week there were no changes and the leaders remain...
1. El Esta Adead - 66 points (5 deaths)
2. The Ex-Parrots - 58.5 points (5 deaths)
3. Yiz-score - 54.3 points (4 deaths)
4. Die Hard - 46 points (3 deaths)
5. Kraut's Picks - 44.8 points (5 deaths)
That's all for us. Don't forget to tip your waitress.
The Commissioner's Council
