c4countdown

JimBentley

You wouldn't speak of "a tinsel" or "five tinsel", therefore it's nonsense. Of course not. You would speak of a strand of tinsel, or five strands of tinsel. And when you had assembled those strands of tinsel, you would refer to the assemblage as "a display of tinsel". ...

JimBentley

Looking back I think we were foolish to try and have a single descriptor and then a series of synonyms, especially as those single descriptors are already a mix between technical and colloquial. I think you're totally correct here. Descriptors are so subjective; for instance I'd have "pissing ...

JimBentley

Joe asked if TINSELS would be valid. So TINSEL is the word that Susie was claiming is singular, plural and a mass noun all at the same time. (Which might actually be true of some words, but they would be distinct subcategories of noun to which the word belongs, not ways of saying the same thing.) F...

JimBentley

I have trouble believing Susie managed to make this fundamental error: "Yes, same in the plural. It's a mass noun, in other words." Somebody of her standing certainly shouldn't be confusing the two concepts. What was the word? I'm not saying that your nitpicking is wrong, but I can think ...

JimBentley

we took over the Nordic office Sounds like a euphemism to me! I know it isn't but I'm going to make up some filthy meaning for it and pretend that it is. The spreadsheet to track it is a fucking mess. I think it goes from 0 to 10 and some entries are missing descriptions altogether As an expert on ...

JimBentley

(not the Status Quo track). In the absence of much activity here lately, I thought I'd start a topic about something mundane that everyone can relate to, and be bored by. It started raining here at about ten this morning and not just a light shower, it was full-on stair-rods-coming-from-the-sky type...

JimBentley

Adam Gillard wrote:Hucthings smash!

So that was Giles then? I did wonder (I tuned in late so didn't see the introductions and for some reason thought it wasn't; I'm unsure why but I thought he was a bit older). And yes, they did very well indeed, looking forward to their next appearance.

JimBentley

Of the codes of conduct that are out there, Christianity is a pretty good one imo. It is certainly preferable to smug liberalism, and/or market economy values... which are the current driving forces behind Western society. If smug liberalism was in charge, I doubt we'd have the broad swathe of righ...

JimBentley

I can't type sense at the best of times. I'm gonna blame my new phone, which seems to be enabling me come out with even more nonsense than usual. I'm guessing I meant two (or more) constituencies rather than twork constituencies but now I have an image of John Prescott twerking, which is really not...

JimBentley

Heather Styles wrote:twork

I must admit that I'm unfamiliar with this word. Google is not helpful on the subject. Could you elaborate? Is it anything to do with

Heather Styles wrote:really fat MPs

?

I'm struggling here.

JimBentley

Most of the ten commandments are ok too. The first four are just god protecting his monopoly ( No other god's, no talking back to god etc) The rest are either common sense (Thou shall not kill) or irrelevant (coveting neighbour's ass etc) As Jim Jeffries pointed out, the ten commandments could be s...

JimBentley

Mike's site has it, I believe (plus a whole lot more):

http://www.thecountdownpage.com/cdtimes.htm

JimBentley

Euan Slatter wrote:
COUNDOWN or THE TUBE? Which is better?

The Tube hasn't been on since 1987, so this question is pretty much redundant.

JimBentley

With Euan having chucked out Liam Fox (good shout) and not nominated a replacement, there is spare space up for grabs, so we could have Caroline Lucas. Actually can we have Mhairi Black as well. I'd be very happy for you to share your whole list, Jim, as long as you are happy for others to chuck ou...

JimBentley

While do people feel the need to have two separate two-minute silences to mark the end of the First World War? And when the 11th November falls on a Sunday, they seem to invent some other day just to make sure we get two. I think it's insane. I agree. The addition of another minute of silence this ...

JimBentley

Can I suggest a game, called Let's Make a Parliament. Everyone gets to nominate an MP to keep, an MP to chuck out, and a new MP, until we're bored. So, keep Chuka Umunna, chuck out Michael Gove, and bring in Gavin Chapwell. Whilst I applaud the sentiment (except for keeping Chukka Umunna; he just w...

JimBentley

Here's something cheery. Name three pieces of music you would like played at your funeral and why I'll be dead so I won't really care. However, it's likely to be so long in the future (as I'm planning on living to about 110 or something) that it'll all be future music that hasn't been invented yet....

JimBentley

While do people feel the need to have two separate two-minute silences to mark the end of the First World War? And when the 11th November falls on a Sunday, they seem to invent some other day just to make sure we get two. I think it's insane. I agree. The addition of another minute of silence this ...

JimBentley

I remember years ago the very offensive word wog was originally an acronym of Western Oriental Gentleman I remember this as well, it was definitely a thing in the 1970s. I remember my dad telling us about it and he wasn't a massive racist or anything. There was also something about being on the por...

JimBentley

I don't think anyone ever figured out who Zef was, and he was before my time anyway, but based on his wiki description it sounds like he may have ended up in an untoward incident involving a wine bottle a few years down the line. Nah, he's not RB, he's actually a highly volatile scrabble player fro...

JimBentley

Right. I want to talk about the current situation with "Brexit" I for one am bloody sick of hearing about "Brexit". Every time I turn on any sort of vaguely political programme they're either talking about "Brexit" and its consequences, or they're giving airtime to tha...

JimBentley

Heather Styles wrote:Ok, if you want a more interesting discussion...some of them may be worthy of closer analysis

I think you need to back this up with examples from contemporary religion(s), otherwise it's just so much hot air.

Religion doesn't stand up to analysis, never mind close analysis.

JimBentley

This isn't a dig at you Jim, but threads like this are pretty useless some religious idiot comes on to try and defend their ludicrous beliefs. I'll keep me fingers crossed anyway. Absolutely. I too was hoping that somebody would come along and disagree vehemently, but (I'm guessing) even if such a ...

JimBentley

You say that Muslims are po-faced, I suspect you're conflating the average Muslim with the high-profile mouthpieces. Brendon Burns has interesting anecdotes about doing comedy gigs in Islamic countries, and says that the people there laugh at pretty much exactly the same things we laugh at too. I'm...

JimBentley

It's not a new thing though I remember years ago Tesco's were forced to ditch a piggy bank logo on its til receipts etc for dear of losing its Muslim customers. I remember during the IRA bombings, nobody was afraid to mock them. I think Muslim fundementalism is a different ballgame. Suicide bombing...

JimBentley

For the sake of fairness maybe atheists should be mocked when they die and made to wear t shirts saying all dressed up and nowhere to go. To be honest most things should be able to accept a bit of mockery, says someone posting on a geeky forum about the love of Countdown But why does Islam get such...

JimBentley

I think your message needs a bigger audience so I have reposted it on the Al Jazeera website along with all your personal details so expect a bearded dude to visit soon. I'd actually welcome this. We could have a long theological discussion, following which (due to the power of my arguments) they w...

JimBentley

But in the same way that you wouldn't start mocking some 20-stone geezer standing outside a pub, if you decide to mock Islam you should probably consider who might become aware of it and what the consequences might be. I'm not talking about some stupid governing body sanctioning you, but you don't ...

JimBentley

No doubt you'll have seen the further censuring of Louis Smith for taking the piss out of Islam (in a private video somehow leaked to The Sun) today; not that a two month ban should bother him, since he's retired. But, in the absence of any serious topics on here these days, I thought I'd throw this...

JimBentley

What's the one song on your playlist that you would have to quickly skip if it was,randomly selected on speaker mode. Mine would be Young Girl by Gary Puxket As a rule, I don't ever skip tracks when listening to music (even when setting random play from my library, which I often do). But sometimes ...

JimBentley

Jrk or Twrk. Simple, someone names a person (e.g. Kim K), and clothed/unclothed, and someone else says whether they'd rather j**k on the or t***k on them. See what I mean about gross minded?... Ok, sorry, I didn't know about them. Is it possible to delete whole threads? Nah, just leave it now. Who ...

JimBentley

Jrk or Twrk. Simple, someone names a person (e.g. Kim K), and clothed/unclothed, and someone else says whether they'd rather j**k on the or t***k on them. See what I mean about gross minded?... PS I know it's not all swear words, but I do it to make it look the same I'm definitely getting too old (...

JimBentley

I loved the soundtrack to I think it was FIFA 14. It just seemed realistic to what a player would listen to before a game, and was also quite funky. That's probably because EA license existing tracks for their FIFA games; we were rather talking about music specifically written for games. I would sa...

JimBentley

In the Rob Hubbard debate, I thought Action Biker was his best tune. Tony Crowther did a good job on Suicide Express, especially considering he was a game writer rather than just doing the music. I in was a funny little computer shop sometime in Newcastle, sometime around 1987 or 1988 and along wit...

JimBentley

They never offered the ZX Spectrum in North America. Shame, as it seems it would have been glorious to grow up with (and to reminisce about years down the road). Yeah, Sinclair (as far as I know) didn't enter the US market at all. I think they licensed the design to Timex, who sold some sort of ver...

JimBentley

Matt Morrison wrote:Haha, amazing of course. What's the bet this thread ends at these three posts? (plus your answer to this one...)

I think you called this one right! To be fair, it's difficult to answer without appearing to be a mad alcoholic pervert (I of course have no compunction about being seen as such).

JimBentley

I remember reading this wiki article a few times down the years, but not for a very long time until Jim mentioned it earlier today in some other thread or other. So, much like infamous "who, dead or alive, would you invite to a dinner party?"-type questions, who would you invite, past or ...

JimBentley

Ben Wilson wrote:Reviving this thread to say this and to see if anyone else gets the extra significance of the music.

That's a great one. I instantly (from the first couple of seconds, anyway) had it down as a classic David Whittaker composition but apparently someone else did it. What is the extra significance?

JimBentley

To be honest, all this bitching that seems to be going on makes me all the more relieved that I never got involved - aside from taking part in Ben's Lincoln events - in the first place. I was quite enthusiastic about holding a Middlesbrough event a few years back but jeeeeez...thank god I didn't, i...

JimBentley

To be honest, all this bitching that seems to be going on makes me all the more relieved that I never got involved - aside from taking part in Ben's Lincoln events - in the first place. I was quite enthusiastic about holding a Middlesbrough event a few years back but jeeeeez...thank god I didn't, if...

JimBentley

No doubt you'll have seen the UKIP contretemps in the EU parliament today. Hoping that Steven Woolfe makes a full recovery, but what the fuck's going on with that party? They barely have any parliamentary representatives and those they have seem all to have it in for each other (Aaron Banks, their c...

JimBentley

First result on Google has some interesting explanations/analogies but still I'm not sure I totally get it (the scale of it just blows my mind). Think one of my biggest hindsight regrets is never studying economics at school. I'd quite like to do an evening class in it. I'm sorry, but I can't resis...

JimBentley

Gavin Chipper wrote:Round 3 was when a black man went into the lead.

I wondered what you were on about too! If I was a racist - and I stress that I'm not - then I must be a precognitive racist, given that I posted it three days before it happened!

And yes, I know you were joking, you merry prankster, you.

JimBentley

I guess the links explained it. But the debt must be owed to each other. For example, Jim owes Jen £2, Jen owes Jono £2, Jono owes Jim £2. Global debt is £6 but nobody really owes anybody anything. Now extrapolate this. ???? ? Profit! It's all a load of shit really, isn't it? I propose we wipe out ...

JimBentley

Jennifer Steadman wrote:First result on Google has some interesting explanations/analogies but still I'm not sure I totally get it (the scale of it just blows my mind).

Nor me. I think I'm even more confused about it than when I started!

JimBentley

I don't get it either. Did find an article about debt cancellation in ancient times. http://www.cadtm.org/The-Long-Tradition-of-Debt That was interesting, cheers for that. To be simplistic, I suppose it all comes down to "what is money?" and as "money" isn't really anything anym...

JimBentley

I was struck by a headline in the Guardian today: "IMF urges governments to tackle record global debt of $152tn" I'm largely ignorant of the whole global financial "scene", I admit. But I don't understand how - if the "global debt" is $152 trillion and every country is ...

JimBentley

Relatedly, "National Treasure" was brilliant again last night. The way it keeps twisting and turning to keep you guessing is great. I still have no idea whether the Robbie Coltrane character is guilty or innocent - I think he's a brilliant actor (same goes for Julie Walters; actually every...

JimBentley

I suppose until "Brexit" (never forget the scare quotes) actually happens, they will still want to be vocal about what should happen in any negotiations. And also, existing EU laws are being written into UK law so that they will still apply once we leave, as I understand it. They will the...

JimBentley

Now that UKIP are leaderless once again (not that it seems to make any difference) and it looks as though Brexit is going to happen (so their major - only? - objective has been achieved), can anyone explain to me what the purpose of UKIP is now? Their policies can't simply mirror Conservative polici...

JimBentley

And yet Louis Theroux was still friends with him after this. As I mentioned before, I think Theroux found Savile a fascinating (if disturbing) character and by being "friends" with him post the original documentary, he hoped to get the information that he was repeatedly probing for in the...

JimBentley

I used to work with a guy from Guyana I'm not sure why but I naturally read that start bit like the first line of a limerick and was really disappointed to find it wasn't one. Anyone care to do one for me? That's a bit of an unnecessarily syllable-heavy first line so I've changed it a bit: I worked...

JimBentley

am I the only one who eats all of apples and pears (apart from the stalk, and some seeds if they end up in easy-to-remove positions) You know apple seeds contain a compound that the body converts into cyanide, right? Mind you, I think you'd have to eat about a million seeds within a few hours to po...

JimBentley

I remember one particular rant where he basically described not only Savile's unusual "tastes", but also how he was able to get away with it by threatening any would-be whistleblowers through various means: actual physical threats, litigation at any hint of impropriety, threatening to sto...

JimBentley

Did anyone else see Louis Theroux's follow-up documentary about Jimmy Savile last night (it's on iPlayer if not)? I thought it was fascinating, if at times unsettling viewing. I remember the original doc (from about 2001 I think?) and thought that Louis got some very interesting stuff at the time; h...

JimBentley

I couldn't believe what happened in round 3! I wonder if it's ever happened before? And will it ever happen again?

JimBentley

I don't think that's the exact story... You're right, of course. My brain was getting confused with this and a typically hysterical story about the Brass Eye Paedogeddon special which must have been aired around that time: http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x463/Fahnn/charlotte-church.jpg Still le...

JimBentley

What's the one song on your playlist that you would have to quickly skip if it was,randomly selected on speaker mode. Mine would be Young Girl by Gary Puxket "Young girl, get out of my mind..." etc. by Gary Puckett &The Union Gap? It's a classic! Philistine. Agreed but like Jon says i...

JimBentley

"Young girl, get out of my mind..." etc. by Gary Puckett &The Union Gap? It's a classic! Philistine. Great song. Iffy suibject matter. There's a lot of songs from that period (lateish sixties) that are far more iffy. One in particular - the title of which I can't bring to mind right n...

JimBentley

Was just battling with the Omelette selection 'OYAD', and the bloke talking on the radio emphasised the word 'TODAY'. Thanks, I thought. I'm telling. Hey, if the chorus to Harry Belafonte's famous Banana Boat Song had been playing at the time, the radio easily might have led you to try a certain in...

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