It ain't over 'till it's over

Please check your list and make sure we haven't missed any timely demises.

Claude Levi-Strauss

Claude Levi-Strauss is taking notes on the Happy Hunting Grounds vs. the Elysian Fields and you DPers don't seem to have noticed. For shame! (And how is it that I'm paying more attention to this than the participants??) -- John (who did not join us this year, for mysterious reasons of his own)

RIP, Claude. May you walk the many realms of the dead, cataloging their similarities and differences.

Alas, Becca is no longer our angel of deathlessness. Thanks for putting her on the board, Claude. Double-alas, Claude's demise is similar in structure to many other recent demises in that it brings me points. Nine more ravens also go to Tom and Craig.

That brings my lead to nineteen points over the nearest contender, the very-annoyed-not-to-have-Claude-this-year Holly. Heather, Craig and Tom are all within ten points of Holly.

Unlike last year at this time, we don't have to do pretend to propose new scoring rules in order to imagine knocking me from my place in the lead. We all picked good portfolios so we all began with around 100 potential points. My remaining potential is down to 40, Holly's is 61, etc. Based just on those numbers, Heather has the best chance of catching up right now, with 73 potential points and only a 13-point deficit.

There are actual scientists amongst the ghouls, so I won't embarrass myself with further faux statistical hoo-hah. But here's my main point: don't stop trash-talking just because I'm kicking your butt.

If you do, the kicking will lose a certain sweetness.

Ghost II

Now that he's dead, only I can see Patrick Swayze. Perhaps that is because I love him so much for giving me a substantial lead.

He danced dirty in Dirty Dancing, got into Whoopi in Ghost, and got up early to fight the commies in Red Dawn. He also brought points to moi, Heather, Holly G and Craig. I'm now in the lead with 36 points, with Heather at 32 and Holly and Andy next in line with 26 each.

I'd say more, but to quote Jed, Swayze's character in Red Dawn: "Shut up, Danny! Shut up!"

Kennedead

I gotta say... I'm not feeling the in-the-face-of-death goofies this morning, so I'll stick to the facts (more or less).

Ted's dead, baby. Ted's dead. His death gives us our second political brain death in a row. (That's a straight line, ready for any takers.) It also pushes me into an oddly unsatisfying lead, giving a mild endorsement to my geriatric/cancer strategy.

Seven of us scored points on the Senator's death. He had a particularly strong impact on those competing to be the Bright Anti-prophet of Doom: Tom, Cathy and Holly G are all out of the running for Angel of Deathlessness. That leaves Becca and Craig. If either of you suffers a tragic accident we will suspect foul play, so don't try anything.

Novacula

Known vampire Bob Novak "died" today. His "death" renders him unavailable for subpoena on the Valerie Plame outing, which is convenient for some folks.

His death also benefits many of us. Heather holds onto her lead, but Andy, Betsy, Holly and yours truly all scored points. I'm in second place by a (dead) nose. Holly, Andy and Betsy make up the unstoppable zombie horde in third place. Thanks, Bob.

Waltah

The beloved Mr. Cronkite has died. In his will he left eleven points each to the Emily & Bill team and to Ben.

Tom and Cathy should now root for Ted Kennedy so they can leave Becca as the last one with no points. Meanwhile, Tom and Becca can plot (in at least two senses of the word) against Claude Levi-Strauss.

The rest of us can look down on them as evil schemers and low scorers. Can I get a collective "Harumph"?

Harumph.

S is for Strange; D is for Dead

Robert S. McNamara (nobody had him), dead at 93.

A Streetcar Named Death

Karl Malden is dead, which puts Heather at 23 points and two deaths. Congratulations, Heather, you're the ranking angel of death. While you retain this lead, you can use that fact to your advantage at cocktail parties.

"Hi, I'm Heather. I'm the reigning angel of death."

Whatever you seek at the cocktail party, you can't fail with that line.

Beat it, Just Bea

It's listed as unconfirmed, but Michael Jackson is reportedly dead of a heart attack.

That puts Holly and Betsy on the board with eleven points each. It's anybody's game.

A Sphincter Says What?

Score one for anal cancer and score 11 for Andy and Heather: Farrah Fawcett died today.

Ed's dead, baby. Ed's dead.

I could've gone with something like, "He cashed his giant check," but the Pulp Fiction reference seemed so much more obnoxious.

RIP, Ed.

David Carradine

Hmm... Thai hotel room hangings didn't really fit into my formula.

Rest in piece, grasshopper.

Nobody had Bea?

What's wrong with us?

Just when you thought it was safe to be on our lists...

Bob scores with Wendy Richard!

I suppose I could've phrased that more gracefully, but in any case, congratulations, Bob. And thank you for restoring my confidence in our dark, dark prescience.

Our causal score, by the way, sits at:
1 - Age-related bronchial stuff
1 - Cancer (bone, in this case)

Farmer Heads to Riverworld

Philip Jose Farmer died in his sleep.

Ed McMahon is in the hospital.

Neither is on our lists this year. I feel like we're death angel pariahs.

I scored. Nobody noticed.

RIP Tapan Sinha, unnoticed by us on January 15. The BBC noticed, but we did not. That's twelve points in the name of Indian cinema.

John Updead

My friend Laura's birthday killed John Updike. Yet another pointless death.

Late Entry; Pay up!

Item: A straggler has approached, wanting to play. Objections? (She says she has not looked at the blog, so hasn't seen any of our lists.)

Item: I have not received payments from about half of you. In your defense, I haven't hassled reminded you until now. Just get it to me ASAP please. If you need my address to mail a check or the right email for PayPal, let me know.

Kirk Outlives Khan

Mr. Ricardo Montalban departed the island today at the age of 88. Another pointless death, alas, but certainly a memorable one.

Starting Line-Up

Good morning, ghouls! This is the first day of the rest of DEAD POOL 2009!

The lists are in, and we have thirteen players this year, one more than last year. We may have some folks reporting in late, too, and I'd like to hear from y'all if we're open to admitting stragglers. (I'm more open to it this year than I would have been last year, since uniqueness isn't counting for so much; also, the potential stragglers I know about are extremely unlikely to have looked here and seen y'all's lists.)

Anyway.

Here are the lists! Danny has been creating a spreadsheet for us in Google Docs, and once he's got the last few lists entered (we had some just-under-the-wire submissions), you'll get an email inviting you to view it.

Danny
Chemical Ali
Tapan Sinha
Kirk Douglas
Ronnie Biggs
Claude Levi-Strauss
Patrick Swayze
Ted Kennedy
Robert Novak
Susan Atkins
Dino de Laurentiis

Tom
Ronnie Biggs
Oscar Niemeyer
Claude Levi-Strauss
Ariel Sharon
Ted Kennedy
Susan Atkins
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi
Jack LaLanne
Bernard Madoff
Severiano Ballesteros

Ben
Robert Byrd
Joaquin Phoenix
Maggie Thatcher
Ted Stevens
Alan Greenspan
Ariel Sharon
Fidel Castro
Scott Weiland
Walter Cronkite
Kirk Douglas

Holly L.
Fidel Castro
Chemical Ali
Ted Kennedy
Michael Jackson
Robert Byrd
Pauline Phillips (Abigail Van Buren)
Bob Novak
Bob Barker
Susan Atkins
Rip Torn

Cathy
Mel Brooks
Pete Doherty
Annette Funicello
Ted Kennedy
Maureen O'Hara
Joaquin Pheonix
Tara Reid
J.D. Salinger
Ringo Starr
Joanne Woodward

Betsy
George Steinbrenner
Natalie Cole
Robert Novak
Elizabeth Edwards
Scott Glenn
Dick Clark
Michael Jackson
Mohammed Ali
Ariel Sharon
Barbara Bush

Heather
Delores Hope
Fidel Castro
Jack Kevorkian
Farah Fawcett
Art Linkletter
Abe Vigoda
Kirk Douglas
Karl Malden
Billy Graham
Patrick Swayze

Andy
Stephen Hawking
Muhammad Ali
Yitzhak Shamir
Farrah Fawcett
Gloria Stuart
Charlie Louvin
Fidel Castro
Robert Novak
Chemical Ali
Ted Kennedy

Becca
Margaret Thatcher
Fidel Castro
Kim Jong-Il
King Bhumibol Adulyadej
King Norodom Sihanouk
J.D. Salinger
Claude Levi-Strauss
William Willard Wirtz
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Beverly Cleary

Holly G.
Patrick Swayze
Elizabeth Taylor
Chuck Close
Edward Kennedy
Nancy Reagan
Stan Lee
John Goodman
Gloria Stuart
Phyllis Diller
Nelson Mandela

Emily & Kevin
Ted Stevens
Ted Kennedy
Kirk Douglas
Nancy Reagan
Walter Cronkite
John Wooden
O.J. Simpson
Carl Reiner
Beverly Cleary
Bob Barker

Bob
Oscar Niemeyer
Billy Graham
Ariel Sharon
Abdelbaset Ali Mohamed Al Megrahi
Bobby Robson
Fidel Castro
Wendy Richard
Jake LaMotta
Mitch Miller
Clifford Hansen

Craig
Ariel Sharon
Fidel Castro
Ali Hassan al-Majid
Kirk Douglas
Patrick Swayze
John Wooden
Margaret Thatcher
Betty Ford
Claude Levi-Strauss
Eunice Kennedy Shriver

The Deadline Approacheth

As of midnight Tuesday, the game is afoot and let the corpses fall where they may.

We have nine players so far, with sixty distinct picks. Last year we had twelve players and 76 distinct picks. Will we have fewer or more players? Will we have fewer or more distinct picks? Place your side bets.

And what will Andy buy with his blood money? Inquiring ghouls want to know.

First Celebrity Death of the Year

Claiborne Pell, former Rhode Island Senator known for the Pell Grants, died at 4:01 a.m. on the first.

If he was on your list, and you already submitted it, warm up your alternate.

The deadline is now midnight, January 6. Ten picks and an alternate... how hard can it be?