My annual post which will insure these people will survive yet another year…
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Kirk Douglas
Fats Domino
Betty Ford
Nancy Reagan
Jack Klugman
Seve Ballesteros
Harry Morgan
Annette Funicello
Kim Jong Il
Fidel Castro
Richard Kiel
Gordon Murray
Alts:
Danny Bonaduce
Greg Louganis
Alternates:
Hasn’t Elizabeth Taylor died at least twice a year since the early eighties?
Macaulay Culkin
John Travolta
Kim Jong Il
Paris Hilton
Steve Martin
Nanette Fabray
Billie Jean King
Tim Curry
Dan Rather
Bryant Charles Gumbel
Lindsay Lohan
Peter Tork
Harrison Ford
Alternates:
Tom Cruise
Janet Jackson
Carrie Fisher
I did so well in 2010 I see no reason to make any changes. I have just guaranteed another year of life for these folks.
John Astin
Yogi Berra
Ronnie Biggs
Fidel Castro
Dick Clark
Chris Economacki
Aretha Franklin
Larry Hagman
Nancy Reagen
Elizabeth Taylor
Mike Wallace
Amy Winehouse
Zakk Wylde
Note: Mike Wallace is the old fart from 60 Minutes, not the race car driver.
Well, it was the Scots that let him go and they generally don’t like to be called British anyway. But I’m a conspiracy theorist on this one - I think he was let go with the full knowledge/approval of the US and British governments to avoid an uncomfortable appeal which, for example, would disclose things like the Maltese shop owner failing to recognize the defendant some 14 times until persuaded by receiving several million dollars from the US government.
But if he has a firearm accident, may I count him?
Absolutely. And let us hope it happens in the next 3 days. He is on my 2010 list, and that trumps all politics/justice.
Let’s hope he goes at the strike of midnight and we can both count him.
If he is still with us at about 11PM Central Dec 31, he’s on my 2011 list also. Then I could count him for both years…
Well, you’re running the joint.
Re-Vamping of my previous list to: (1) remove Aung San Suu Kyi on the grounds that the Myanmar junta might decide to openly execute her instead of arranging an ‘accident’; (2) jump on the Aretha bandwagon; (3) generally second-guess myself
Plain version:
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Charlie Louvin
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Aretha Franklin
Roger Ebert
Michael Douglas
Christopher Hitchens
Gene Weingarten
Abdel Baset Al-Megrahi
Steve Jobs
Connie Newton Needham
Orlando Thomas
Pete Doherty
Alternates:
Rush Limbaugh
Darlene Cates
I gave up on Steve. Apparently if you have more money than G-d, you can beat pancreatic cancer.
My revised list since I can’t have Charlie Kleinman, Pediatric cardiologist, recipient of 17 year old Marc Dawson’s heart.
Celebrity Death Pool 2011.
This year’s contestants are:
Carl Kassel
Aretha Franklin
Michael Dokes
Derryn Hinch
Susie Edwards
Mike Heimerdingerr
Andy Whitfield
Charlie Louvin
Barack Obama
Merle Haggard
Bryant Gumbel
Danny Buchanan
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi
Alternates
Kathryn Joosten
Anne Francis
Carl Kassel, NPR announcer, quit the news and just does “Wait, Wait” now.
Aretha Franklin, singer
Michaek Dokes, boxer
Derryn Hinch, Australian Shock Jock
Susie Edwards, former WAFF reporter, WWL journalist.
Mike Heimerdinger, Titans Offensive Coach
Andy Whitfield, Australian Actor
Charlie Louvin, Country Music singer
Barack Obama, POTUS, I wonder if the Secret Service will show up?
Merle Haggard, another C&W singer
Bryant Gumbel, sports caster.
Danny Buchanan, former General Secretary of Jamaica.
Alternates
Kathryn Joosten, Mrs. Landingham of the West Wing
Anne Francis, actress in The Forbidden Planet
Well, that was actually in answer to a death pool theme question, however poorly phrased. I was under the impression that kicking people while they’re still up is okay in the death pool, although I kick them while they’re down too.
And while I don’t want to wish anyone ill, we are rapidly getting down to the last few hours here and not one single bastard on my 2010 list has had the decency to croak, damnit. I would hate for this waste of time to be pointless!
Zsa Zsa, who up until now has reigned supreme as the choice of entrants in 2011’s DP, is slipping in more ways than one. She is now tied for third, with Fidel Castro, while Aretha has surged ahead to the lead, with Michael Douglas in second.
But we only have half the number of the entrants so far as last year. Will there be the usual NYE surge? Stay tuned, boys and girls.
Last year we had 70 entries in the final two days, so we are running at about the same rate.
Here goes nothing I suppose. I am tied for zero in this year’s pool, so things can only look up.
Plain list:
Aretha Franklin
Michael Douglas
Kim Jong-Il
Lil Wayne
Bobby Doerr
Stan Musial
Eleanor Mondale
Seve Ballesteros
Ronnie Biggs
Leonid Stadnyk
Margaret Thatcher
Marilyn Horne
James Ellroy
List with explanations:
Aretha Franklin, this year’s hot prospect apparently
Michael Douglas, actor, also suffering
Kim Jong-Il, little NK dictator
Lil Wayne, slightly larger rapper with a penchant for crime and a big mouth
Bobby Doerr, oldest living Baseball Hall of Famer
Stan Musial, the Man, deserves a place with baseball’s greatest
Eleanor Mondale, carryover from last year, Walter’s daughter
Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer
Ronnie Biggs, Great Train Robber
Leonid Stadnyk, allegedly the world’s tallest man, from Ukraine
Margaret Thatcher, Elvis Costello eagerly waiting his turn to tramp the dirt down
Marilyn Horne, opera soprano from Bradford, PA
James Ellroy, my favorite author, best known for L.A. Confidential, sadly looking way down from when I saw him some years ago
Right, here we go with well-known UK politicians:
Ian Paisley
Margaret Thatcher
Tony Benn
Michael Heseltine
Menzies Campbell
Kenneth Clarke
Denis Healey
Geoffrey Howe
Roy Hattersley
Norman Tebbit
Glenda Jackson
Nigel Lawson
Cecil Parkinson
Reserves:
Douglas Hurd
David Mellor
John Prescott
Here’s my unimaginative list:
Anne McCaffrey
Stephen Hawking
Michael Douglas
Margaret Thatcher
Amy Winehouse
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Aretha Franklin
Drew Carey
Kim Jong Il
John Goodman
Roger Ebert
Ariel Sharon
Mel Gibson
Alternates:
Randy Quaid
John Goodman
…and so I bestow the gift of life for another year to:
Chrissie Amphlett
Jim Stynes
Kirk Douglas
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Maggie Smith
Peter O’Toole
Derryn Hinch
Margaret Thatcher
Gore Vidal
Peter Falk
Richie Benaud
Donald Sutherland
Gough Whitlam
Alternates:
Bob Hawke
Larry Hagman
Fidel Castro
This is an updated list:
Mario Batali
Chaz Bono
Yao Defen
Aretha Franklin
Jonah Hill
Artie Lange
Rosie O’Donnell
Vincent Pastore
William “Refrigerator” Perry
Randy Quaid
Gabourey Sidibe
Sally Struthers
Reuben Studdard
Alternates:
Kirstie Alley
Kevin Smith
Oprah Winfrey
Note: Yao Defen is the tallest living woman