RIP in 2016 :( NOW amended to include good stuff

[g8ina]

PLEASE RE-READ TO THE END, GOOD STUFF HAS BEEN ADDED !!
============
Well then, this appears to be all of em, alphabetical order, RIP :-

A.A. Gill
Adrienne Corri
Alan Rickman
Alexis Arquette
Andrew Sachs
Anton Yelchin
Arnold Palmer
Asa Briggs (hostorian and author)
Baron Cecil Parkinson
Barry Hines (Kes author)
Barry Howard
Billy Paul
Bobby Vee
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Brian Rix (fellow radio ham)
Buckwheat Zydeco
Burt Kwouk
Carla Lane
Caroline Aherne
Charmian Carr
Cliff Michelmore
Conrad Phillips (William Tell)
Dan Haggerty
Dave Swarbrick (Fairport Convention)
David Bowie
David Gest
Douglas Slocombe
Earl Hamner Jr
Ed Stewart
Edgar Mitchell (Apollo astronaut)
Elie Wiesel
Fidel Castro
Frank Finlay
Frank Kelly
Frank Sinatra Jr
Gareth Thomas
Garry Shandling
Gene Wilder
George Gaynes
George Kennedy
George Martin
George Michael
Glen Frey
Greg Lake
Harper Lee
Henry Heimlich
Ian McCaskill
Jean Alexander
Jean-Jacques Perrey (Synth pioneer)
Jerry Doyle
Jim Delligatti
Jimmy Perry
Jimmy Young
Joe Alaskey
Joe Dowell
Johan Cruyff
John Glenn
Kay Starr
Keith Emerson
Kenny Baker
King Bhumibol Adulyadej
Leonard Cohen
Lonnie McIntosh
Marvin Minsky
Maurice White
Merle Haggard
Muhammad Ali
Nancy Reagan
Natalie Cole
Neville Marriner
Patty Duke
Paul Daniels
Pete Burns
Peter Maxwell Davies (Classical composer)
Peter Shaffer
Peter Vaughan
Pierre Boulez
Prince
Red Army Choir
Ricci Martin
Richard Bradford
Rick Parfitt
Robert Vaughn
Ronnie Corbett
Shimon Peres
Sylvia Anderson
Terry Wogan
Tony Warren
Toots Thielemans
Umberto Eco
Victoria Wood
Zsa Zsa Gabor

Died since posting original list :

Liz Smith
Vera Rubin (astronomer who helped find evidence of dark matter)
Alphonse Mouzon of Weather Report
Carrie Fisher !
Richard Adams (Watership Down)
Debbie Reynolds, 84, Carrie Fisher's mother.

=================
HOWEVER ------

There's an Ebola Vaccine now
Child Mortality - Down across the globe
+9% survival rate in pacreatic cancer sufferers
Gene responsible for ALS found
Volunteers in India planted 50 Million trees in 24 hours
Suicide rates down globally
The Ozone layer is repairing itself
The Rabbinical assembly issued a resolution affirming the rights of trans and non conforming individuals
MIND CONTROLLED ROBOT ARMS
Leo got dat oscar
Wild tigers numbers up FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 100 YEARS
Giant Pandas - No longer endangered
A solar powered plane did a world trip
Global Malaria down by 60%
Measels ERADICATED from the Americas
93% of the world's children learned to read and write - the highest percentage IN HUMAN HISTORY
China plans to be completely renewable by 2020 and has a global plan for by 2050
Huge global push in renewable energy
Norway committed 0 deforestation, 0
Every major grocer and fast food chain in the U.S pledged to use cage free eggs only by 2025
Manatees - No longer endangered
Wild Wolves - Back in Europe
Wild Salmon spawning in the Connecticut river for the first time since the American revolution
Columbian white tailed deer - no longer endangered
Green Sea Turtles - NO LONGER ENDANGERED
Sea World no longer breeding captive killer whales
Humpback Whales - NO LONGER ENDANGERED
Global aid - up by 7%
Americas most generous year EVER in charity and aid
China's most generous year EVER in charity and aid at $15 Billion

[Rob_B]

Radio 4s "more or less" did a check and we've not lost that many more celebs than usual, it does feel like it though doesn't it...

[Zak33]

It's been a bitch of a year

But the famous and known count few vs the silent and passed in war zones.

Gutted for friends and family of all the departed. But equally ....scared for the terrified in war torn missile battered cities the world over.

To be a multi millionaire with drug issues....Or a musician with a vast fortune and lonely......

Doesn't match up to being a 7 year old under a pile of rubble with your leg trapped and your daddy in pieces before you ....In the rain....And cold.

Christmas makes me happy.....And then it drags me down.

[g8ina]

Yep, puts it all in context Zak, thanks for that.

[Jonj1611]

You can add Liz Smith to that list :/ Played Nana in the Royle Family amongst other things

[Saracen]

And pioneering astronomer Vera Rubin, whose work on galaxy expansion rates led to theory of dark matter. Died Chrustmas Day, aged 88, of natural causes.

[g8ina]

Yep, just added them both to the list in FB, thanks for the add here

[SeriousSam]

Probably someone only a film nerd would know of, but two-time academy award winner Gil Parrondo died on the Saturday 24th.

[g8ina]

and another niche market hero of mine : Drummer Alphonse Mouzon of Weather Report :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae0nwSv6cTU

[sammyc]

It's been a bitch of a year

But the famous and known count few vs the silent and passed in war zones.

Gutted for friends and family of all the departed. But equally ....scared for the terrified in war torn missile battered cities the world over.

Any man's death diminishes me - supposedly. But as with the 'one Briton' involved in a disaster abroad, or the tragedy that befalls a 'lovely well-liked' chap (as though dying having had below-average good fortune/qualities before you bit the dust, is somehow the lesser tragedy), sorrow has its selective criteria. Celebrities form a part of the fabric of each generation, music especially becomes interwoven with our lives and our pasts. So a lot of our sorrow for their passing is actually about us, surprise surprise.

Also; time is a social construct & technically, tallying deaths from one end of the calendar to another has no more significance than from say June to June -

Also; on top of the usual dubious social media grief, what's with people running & squeaking up today about George Michael's quiet & (presumably intentionally) low-key/anonymous charitable acts hashtagtasteless hashtaggiveitaresttwitter

Also; we'll all be dead in 100 years so it's a mere matter of sequence who goes first


Right that's the edge off my post-Boxing-Day spleen

Oh and I had no idea Colin Vearncombe was no longer with us (blatant self-interested personal sorrow, as per above.)

[Jonj1611]

And now Carrie Fisher, what a year!

[Saracen]

And Richard Adams, author of Watership Down, and others.

[Ferral]

Gordon Hunt, he was the director for the motion capture on the Uncharted games died a few days ago also

[g8ina]

Updated and now added some good stuff .... It won't make up for the losses but it *is* good....

[peterb]

I'm beginning to wonder if we ought to start a sub-forum for these...

It not going to get any less

[ik9000]

I'm beginning to wonder if we ought to start a sub-forum for these...

It not going to get any less

Whose next in celebrity dingbats?



some better dingbats here: http://www.asos.com/women/fashion-ne...celebdingbats/