The Off Topic 2008 Celebrity Dead Pool

[-Jrabbit]

Interesting, Guy. Aretha, Perot, and Steinbrenner were all on my semi-final list, but didn't make the final cut.

[Perfection]

Originally posted by Nikolai
Ming loves excessive use of smilies, but I don't have a link to such a post.

Yeah, excessive use may be one thing, but there was six of those bad boys!

[-Jrabbit]

Kudos to Ozzy for his choice of the Marky, The Last Ramone Standing.

[LordShiva]

Karuna was born in 1966. In teh absence of a firm date, should we set it at July 1st?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_Karuna

[LotC]

Looks like I'm the only one who was stupid enough to pick Keith Richards, a man that will most likely outlive all of us. I should have put more thought into my reserves.

[SlowwHand]

Keith Richards is dead and just doesn't know it.

[LotC]

Upon downloading the spreadsheet I now see that foolish would have been a better choice of word.

[Wezil]

Originally posted by LordShiva
Karuna was born in 1966. In teh absence of a firm date, should we set it at July 1st?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_Karuna

Yeah, I did see a year for him. How be we wait and see if he actually does perish then we will work it out? The July 1st option is worth considering in this type of situation. We are only talking about 1 point either way when most celebs should be worth a couple hundred.

LotC - I had Richards as a backup. He's the "sure bet" that never pays off.

Abe Vigoda is the same.

[-Jrabbit]

Weird night last night. I dreamed that about 5 or 6 of the group's more popular choices died, all on January 1st. There was a mad scramble among all online dead pools to see if there was a common source behind it all. Very sinister.

What's weird is that I virtually never remember my dreams.

[Wezil]

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Former Indonesian dictator Suharto's condition worsened overnight, and he needs a second pacemaker and will likely undergo dialysis, a member of the presidential medical team said Saturday.

The 86-year-old, who brutally ruled Indonesia for more than three decades until being toppled by a pro-democracy uprising in 1998, has been in and out of the hospital in recent years for strokes and intestinal bleeding.

He was readmitted Friday to the capital's Pertamina Hospital after falling ill at home several days ago. Doctors had said his condition was not life-threatening, but that appeared to have changed Saturday.

"We are afraid he could suffer organ failure, so we have recruited some specialists from several hospitals to try everything to avoid organ failure," Dr. Joko Raharjo told The Associated Press.

"We can say his condition has worsened, is more serious than before ... Another heart pacemaker needs to be fitted," he told reporters earlier at the hospital.

Suharto's kidney and lung functions also had deteriorated and he will likely undergo dialysis, he added. Medications were being administered through an intravenous drip and the former leader was conscious, but drowsy.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono "prayed for the health of Suharto" during a morning hospital visit, Raharjo said.

Suharto has lived a secluded life in a mansion on a leafy lane in Jakarta and is rarely seen in public. Two years after his ouster, prosecutors filed charges that he embezzled US$600 million in public funds, but legal proceedings were suspended because of his poor health.

He is said to have suffered permanent brain damage and some speech loss from the ailments, but during recent Islamic holidays received a stream of high-profile guests and gave a rare media interview in November after winning a defamation lawsuit against Time magazine.

Time published allegations that Suharto and his family had amassed up to US$15 billion in stolen state funds. Transparency International has said the Suharto family amassed more than twice that amount.

In the interview with Gatra news magazine, Suharto vowed to donate most of the US$106 million in damages he won from Time to the poor. Time is appealing the Supreme Court decision.

Critics "can say what they want. It is empty talk," the former army general said in the rare comments. "The fact is I have never committed corruption."

Suharto and Spears are battling for the First Blood Award.

[SlowwHand]

Britney Spears is tripping me out. WTF?

[Kassiopeia]

4. This list is to be sent by Private Message to Wezil for eligibility verification by the Panel Judges. DO NOT post your list in the thread. I will post the lists of all players at the start of the game in January. This prevents others from “poaching” your good picks. No further entries will be accepted after 31st December 2007.

I hope that's supposed to be 2008. I think I'll take part too.

[SlowwHand]

No, it means what it says. Sign up by the end of 2007, for the calendar year 2008.
Who the hell is going to have signups for a solid year, Kass? What a muskrat.

[Kassiopeia]

Oh snap. I guess I missed the earlier thread or something, and all the parts in the OP about PMing picks and whatnot was just carried over.

[SlowwHand]

Maybe Wez will cut you a break. PM him, say "HEY!".