The 2013 Off Topic Celebrity Dead Pool

[ColdWizard]

I think I just discovered that I prefer the original Troggs version of Wild Thing to the version by X.

[-Jrabbit]

When I was a kid, I had a 45 with versions by a Sen. Everett Dirksen impersonator (B side) and a Sen. Bobby Kennedy impersonator (A side). (Maybe "impressionist" is the better term.) Probably still have it somewhere...

[molly bloom]

I thought this would go nicely in the thread. It's a great exhibition and free....

Our major winter exhibition showcases some 300 works from a unique collection devoted to the iconography of death and our complex and contradictory attitudes towards it. Assembled by Richard Harris, a former antique print dealer based in Chicago, the collection is spectacularly diverse, including art works, historical artefacts, scientific specimens and ephemera from across the world. Rare prints by Rembrandt, Dürer and Goya will be displayed alongside anatomical drawings, war art and antique metamorphic postcards; human remains will be juxtaposed with Renaissance vanitas paintings and twentieth century installations celebrating Mexico’s Day of the Dead. From a group of ancient Incan skulls, to a spectacular chandelier made of 3000 plaster-cast bones by British artist Jodie Carey, this singular collection, by turns disturbing, macabre and moving, opens a window upon our enduring desire to make peace with death.

http://www.wellcomecollection.org/whats-on/exhibitions/death-a-self-portrait.aspx

Another blow for the ranks of science:

My friend Seymour Laxon, who has died aged 49 after sustaining a head injury during a fall, was an internationally respected Earth scientist. Seymour used satellites to observe the polar ice caps and the focus of his research was sea ice, a key factor in understanding the global climate since it acts as a barrier to heat and moisture exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere.

Seymour was the only child of Veronica, a psychology lecturer, and Bill, a civil engineer and pioneer of computer-aided design. Inheriting his father's interest in computers, as a teenager Seymour was one of the generation who cut their teeth programming the first home computers in the early 1980s.

He studied physics and astronomy at University College London, where his neat and structured lecture notes showed a clear and well-organised mind at work. It was no surprise when he went on to undertake a PhD at UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory in Surrey. There, he met his partner of 19 years Fiona Strawbridge.

Seymour's scientific breakthrough was to distinguish the ice surface from the water surface in satellite radar altimeter measurements of ice-covered oceans. This led to the first detailed map of the Arctic gravity field, revealing new tectonic features beneath the seafloor, and water circulation beneath the ice. His work helped give the European Space Agency the confidence to build CryoSat, a satellite dedicated to observing the Earth's ice-covered regions, launched in 2010.

Seymour taught at UCL's department of space and climate physics, before moving to the department of Earth sciences, where he was director of the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling. He was awarded his chair in climate physics in 2012.

He approached his work, as he did his life, with energy, integrity and good humour. With the generosity to share his knowledge and encourage others, he built a strong research team of well-trained and motivated young people who will continue his work.

Seymour was sociable and popular. Although brought up a city boy in north London, he loved the great outdoors and enjoyed cycling, camping and hillwalking. Outside work, his proudest achievement was his daughter, Imogen.

He is survived by Fiona and Imogen, and his mother, Veronica.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2013/feb/03/seymour-laxon-obituary

[Wezil]

Reg Presley was 71 and a Unique Pick for ColdWizard (7).

= (171 - 7) + (100 - 71) + 25

= 218 points.


The embalmer42 reign of terror has ended.

[DaShi]

Of course, the one time I don't play, everyone that I would have chosen dies.

[Wezil]

I've been thinking that since the beginning of the game.

"****! Another celeb DaShi would surely have picked".

[embalmer42]

Reg Presley was 71 and a Unique Pick for ColdWizard (7).

= (171 - 7) + (100 - 71) + 25

= 218 points.


The embalmer42 reign of terror has ended.

Story of my life. A huge build-up and then I'm done before you know it.

[Straybow]

2013 Leader Board (as of 6-Feb-13)

16. Rank points - The higher a player Ranks their pick the more points that pick will be worth. Be careful to order your list from most likely to least likely to perish sometime in 2010 if you want to make the most of their loss.

17. In addition, bonus points will be awarded when a death meets the following criteria:
e) First Blood Award: +25 points for the first celebrity to die in 2012.
f) You Can’t Cheat Death Award: +25 points for the last celebrity to die in 2012.

Or maybe you need to give Guynemer points for Rita Levi Montalcini =)

[Guynemer]

Aha! Technically right. The best kind of right.

[SlowwHand]

"The Hungarian Hag" just had another birthday. ****ing *****.

[Wezil]

Or maybe you need to give Guynemer points for Rita Levi Montalcini =)

Oops!

I don't know if I should blame that on senility or the drugs.

[-Jrabbit]

You're not old enough to claim senility. Must be the drugs...

[embalmer42]

[H][/H]

You're not old enough to claim senility. Must be the drugs...

Have you seen him lately? He looks like he could be Betty White's older husband

[PLATO]

I wonder if we should give extra points to someone struck by a meteorite (or any space junk for that matter)

[Uncle Sparky]

We didn't give extra points for people killed by the Mayans last year.