c4countdown

This list finalised then? Looks like I'll be fighting to avoid last place!

mike,do i still have time to register and if so how can i pay?

been in egypt and didnt realise date for last registration

paul james wrote:mike,do i still have time to register and if so how can i pay?

Probably Paul, unless it causes issues for Nita. I'll ask her and let you know. Assuming it's OK, PayPal is the preferred payment option (if that isn't any good for you we can sort something out via PM).

cheers mike,if ok then i can sort my train tomorrow

Is it too late? If not I would like to come, along with my dad, Paul.

It's not too late, Jack - Nita has said that latecomers are welcome (at least for now!), so if anyone is still interested, please send me a PayPal payment ASAP!

(Incidentally, it looks like we're going to have over 30 people, which is great, with the limit for the room being 36.)

hi mike,any other way i can pay,dont have pay pal? jack and paul,do you know what train you are on? i will probably be joining you at carlisle.

I've just got it successfully requested off work and will paypal you ASAP.

Edit. Done. See you there. (Or, if the organise+r ran out of room then let me know)

Thanks Andy. Paul - I've PM'ed you re alternative payment arrangements. Jack - please let me know soon if you want in! Only two weeks to go.

Mike Brown wrote:Only two weeks to go.

Excellent, could do with a nice little break.

hi mike,cant access that personal message,me and technology dont mix! got my train ticket anyway!

Was hoping to stay over and go back in the morning - but I'm working the Sunday at 12:15 in Manchester.

Long story short, recommend me some form of transport guys (the earliest train available on national rail won't make it).

Andy Platt wrote:Was hoping to stay over and go back in the morning - but I'm working the Sunday at 12:15 in Manchester.

Long story short, recommend me some form of transport guys (the earliest train available on national rail won't make it).

Megabus? Cheap flight? Hitch-hike?

paul james wrote:hi mike,cant access that personal message,me and technology dont mix! got my train ticket anyway!

Hi Paul, I've sent an email to the address you registered with when you joined C4C. Hopefully you will get it!

I got my shift changed at work so can now stay over - where you guys staying?

Andy Platt wrote:I got my shift changed at work so can now stay over - where you guys staying?

Excellent! Can't speak for anyone else, but Rich and I are staying at the Cameron Toll Travelodge.

OK that's actually very near to another place I saw online that was going for 30 quid. The travel bodges are looking pretty expensive for whatever reason.
I'll book that then

Mike Brown wrote:

Andy Platt wrote:I got my shift changed at work so can now stay over - where you guys staying?

Excellent! Can't speak for anyone else, but Rich and I are staying at the Cameron Toll Travelodge.

Same here- got that room for about £40.

Ben Wilson wrote:

Mike Brown wrote:

Andy Platt wrote:I got my shift changed at work so can now stay over - where you guys staying?

Excellent! Can't speak for anyone else, but Rich and I are staying at the Cameron Toll Travelodge.

Same here- got that room for about £40.

That works, it's only about a mile from the venue, and I believe there's a bus that goes in that direction too (38?) if you don't fancy walking.

An actual weather forecast for the correct weekend is (uncorroborated from other sources as yet) wet and windy. Bring your wool(l)ies, and remember that umbrellas and Scotland don't mix.

Ian Volante wrote:An actual weather forecast for the correct weekend is (uncorroborated from other sources as yet) wet and windy. Bring your wool(l)ies, and remember that umbrellas and Scotland don't mix.

Latest Met Office forecast is for white cloud with a max windspeed of 15mph, but there's plenty of time for it to change yet (in either direction!).

Good advice for Scotland either way, Ian!

I'll pack my Longo Jonos.

Mike Brown wrote:

Ian Volante wrote:An actual weather forecast for the correct weekend is (uncorroborated from other sources as yet) wet and windy. Bring your wool(l)ies, and remember that umbrellas and Scotland don't mix.

Latest Met Office forecast is for white cloud with a max windspeed of 15mph, but there's plenty of time for it to change yet (in either direction!).

Good advice for Scotland either way, Ian!

Fair enough, I'm just guessing from long-range charts - I'm willing to bet I'm not fair off though...

Not long now and we have 33 players, which is brilliant. Can't wait! Hope to see everyone there on Saturday morning!

So, trains- who's getting in where and when? I'm arriving into Edinburgh at 11:13 and am up for sharing cab if wanted.

Ben Wilson wrote:So, trains- who's getting in where and when? I'm arriving into Edinburgh at 11:13 and am up for sharing cab if wanted.

I'm arriving at 17:06 tomorrow, so might be a bit difficult.

Ben Wilson wrote:So, trains- who's getting in where and when? I'm arriving into Edinburgh at 11:13 and am up for sharing cab if wanted.

Ryan gets in at 10:24 but then has to wait for me making my way from the bus station so we'd be up for sharing a taxi.

James Robinson wrote:

Ben Wilson wrote:So, trains- who's getting in where and when? I'm arriving into Edinburgh at 11:13 and am up for sharing cab if wanted.

I'm arriving at 17:06 tomorrow, so might be a bit difficult.

Arriving at 17.25, maybe we can meet up then or later in the evening.

Mike Brown wrote:

James Robinson wrote:

Ben Wilson wrote:So, trains- who's getting in where and when? I'm arriving into Edinburgh at 11:13 and am up for sharing cab if wanted.

I'm arriving at 17:06 tomorrow, so might be a bit difficult.

Arriving at 17.25, maybe we can meet up then or later in the evening.

Sweet, would be up for that. My hotel is right next to the station, so I could dump my stuff there, then we could do something.

James Robinson wrote:Sweet, would be up for that. My hotel is right next to the station, so I could dump my stuff there, then we could do something.

I'm a bit further out but I'm sure we can work something out. I have your moby unless it's changed (ends in 75?) if I don't see you at the station.
EDIT: Don't think I do! I know two "James R"s!

Mike Brown wrote:

James Robinson wrote:Sweet, would be up for that. My hotel is right next to the station, so I could dump my stuff there, then we could do something.

I'm a bit further out but I'm sure we can work something out. I have your moby unless it's changed (ends in 75?) if I don't see you at the station.
EDIT: Don't think I do! I know two "James R"s!

I'll just say that my moby has NEVER ended in 75, Mike................. (It ends in 44.)

James Robinson wrote:I'll just say that my moby has NEVER ended in 75, Mike................. (It ends in 44.)

Will look out for you at the station. You have mine on email if you need it anyway.

Mike Brown wrote:

James Robinson wrote:I'll just say that my moby has NEVER ended in 75, Mike................. (It ends in 44.)

Will look out for you at the station. You have mine on email if you need it anyway.

Excellent. See you there then.

Currently getting drunk on the Royal Mile... Roll on Saturday!

Michelle Nevitt wrote:

Ben Wilson wrote:So, trains- who's getting in where and when? I'm arriving into Edinburgh at 11:13 and am up for sharing cab if wanted.

Ryan gets in at 10:24 but then has to wait for me making my way from the bus station so we'd be up for sharing a taxi.

Good stuff- see you there tomorrow morning.

I'm already here.

I'd suggest meeting for a pint tonuight with early arrivals, but I'm off to a poker night. I'll maybe see if the host wants any countdown geeks turning up to boost the numbers...

And also, the bad weather I predicted is about 200 miles further west than expected, so it should be quite nice.

Home now, knackered but had a really great time, many thanks to Mike, Richard, Nita and everyone at the club who made the eventnthenawesome time it was. Well done to innis on the win and the record- that one should stand for ages, then again we've said that before!

Hope to see you all in January- I've got a bit of prep to do...

Thanks to everyone for coming, hope you all had a great time and would like to come to another one next year. Any (constructive!) feedback would be welcome - including whether you want it to be seeded by wins and points or just points in future!

(And if no one else publishes the results before me - and please feel free to do so! - I'll do it in the next few days.)

I really enjoyed myself and would like to thank Mike, Rich, Nita and everyone else involved for making it happen.

Points is the Edinburgh Countdown Club way so I don't see why we should come in and change it personally!

Jon O'Neill wrote:Points is the Edinburgh Countdown Club way so I don't see why we should come in and change it personally!

Are you secretly Scottish, Jono? Although you do make a fair point.

Oh yeah, and thanks to Ian for taking us round the hooses somewhat but actually ending up in a pretty decent pub.

Jon O'Neill wrote:I really enjoyed myself and would like to thank Mike, Rich, Nita and everyone else involved for making it happen.

Agreed, much thanks to all involved.

Jon O'Neill wrote:Points is the Edinburgh Countdown Club way so I don't see why we should come in and change it personally!

I think both ways have their advantages and disadvantages. Playing for points means you're less concerned about getting the win, and also it favours players who are lucky enough to get easy nines come up. On the other hand, if the players are ranked by wins it means you're much more likely to finish low in the table if you're drawn against tough opposition. Personally I prefer ranking by wins simply because that's what I'm used to from other events, but having said that, I finished 6th yesterday with only three wins which wouldn't have happened if we'd been ranking by wins.

Fantastic tournament, very happy to reach another CO-event final.

Quite happy to make it to my 6th final, and losing to Innis twice in a day isn't that bad.

A very well run tournament in a lovely city. Would certainly love to return next year if it returns.

My recaps and pics will be up soon.

I'd also like to say thanks to Mike and Richard for all their work in making this happen, it was a really good day. Thanks to everyone who made the journey up (or east) to Edinburgh to help make it so, and especially to James for the pleasure of that super-exciting final. Credit is also due for Mike and Richard's spontaneous hosting - really enjoyed it!

As for the format, as much as I feel sorry for Ben who won all 6 of his games but didn't make the final, I'm inclined to agree that we should just go along with the 'house rule' of ranking by points only. It's the way they've been doing it for nearly 30 years now, and if nothing else, it'll add an extra bit of a variety between the different co-events.

Either way, hope to see CoEdi make a return next year!

Innis Carson wrote:As for the format, as much as I feel sorry for Ben who won all 6 of his games but didn't make the final, I'm inclined to agree that we should just go along with the 'house rule' of ranking by points only. It's the way they've been doing it for nearly 30 years now, and if nothing else, it'll add an extra bit of a variety between the different co-events.

Agreed, maybe this should be the 'official' difference between the 'Lincoln' format and the 'Edinburgh' format!

Well done Innis. I forgot this was on. What record did you get that will stand a long time? Maxed everything?

Kirk Bevins wrote:Well done Innis. I forgot this was on. What record did you get that will stand a long time? Maxed everything?

He scored 99 in one of the 9 rounders. I've got his sheet, which I'll put up on my Facebook page tomorrow.

James Robinson wrote:

Kirk Bevins wrote:Well done Innis. I forgot this was on. What record did you get that will stand a long time? Maxed everything?

He scored 99 in one of the 9 rounders. I've got his sheet, which I'll put up on my Facebook page tomorrow.

CD equivalent of swapping shirts

Mike Brown wrote:

Innis Carson wrote:As for the format, as much as I feel sorry for Ben who won all 6 of his games but didn't make the final, I'm inclined to agree that we should just go along with the 'house rule' of ranking by points only. It's the way they've been doing it for nearly 30 years now, and if nothing else, it'll add an extra bit of a variety between the different co-events.

Agreed, maybe this should be the 'official' difference between the 'Lincoln' format and the 'Edinburgh' format!

Sounds mental. Doing something just because it's always been done like that is up there with the worst reasons for doing something. And variety can be good, but you don't have a good version of something and a shit one just to have a difference. I thought this was a joint venture between the Edinburgh club and people from here - a CoCO event if you like - so it shouldn't automatically be run be their rules, but something that's up for sensible discussion. I mean, obviously I wasn't there, but I might go one year if it's run again, and I'd probably find it slightly annoying that someone could win all their games and go out on points.

Gavin Chipper wrote:

Mike Brown wrote:

Innis Carson wrote:As for the format, as much as I feel sorry for Ben who won all 6 of his games but didn't make the final, I'm inclined to agree that we should just go along with the 'house rule' of ranking by points only. It's the way they've been doing it for nearly 30 years now, and if nothing else, it'll add an extra bit of a variety between the different co-events.

Agreed, maybe this should be the 'official' difference between the 'Lincoln' format and the 'Edinburgh' format!

Sounds mental. Doing something just because it's always been done like that is up there with the worst reasons for doing something. And variety can be good, but you don't have a good version of something and a shit one just to have a difference. I thought this was a joint venture between the Edinburgh club and people from here - a CoCO event if you like - so it shouldn't automatically be run be their rules, but something that's up for sensible discussion. I mean, obviously I wasn't there, but I might go one year if it's run again, and I'd probably find it slightly annoying that someone could win all their games and go out on points.

After the buffet they put on, they can set down whatever rules they like. Terrific spread. Ten on ten.

Gavin Chipper wrote:

Mike Brown wrote:

Innis Carson wrote:As for the format, as much as I feel sorry for Ben who won all 6 of his games but didn't make the final, I'm inclined to agree that we should just go along with the 'house rule' of ranking by points only. It's the way they've been doing it for nearly 30 years now, and if nothing else, it'll add an extra bit of a variety between the different co-events.

Agreed, maybe this should be the 'official' difference between the 'Lincoln' format and the 'Edinburgh' format!

Sounds mental. Doing something just because it's always been done like that is up there with the worst reasons for doing something. And variety can be good, but you don't have a good version of something and a shit one just to have a difference. I thought this was a joint venture between the Edinburgh club and people from here - a CoCO event if you like - so it shouldn't automatically be run be their rules, but something that's up for sensible discussion. I mean, obviously I wasn't there, but I might go one year if it's run again, and I'd probably find it slightly annoying that someone could win all their games and go out on points.

From a purely logical standpoint I agree with all of this. However, this was put to a vote early on in the day, and the Countdown Club members voted uniformly in favour of points-only ranking, outnumbering the c4cers in the room. Why they prefer it so much is anyone's guess, but it definitely seemed like one of those times where arguing is more hassle than it's worth - the ensuing confusion and resentment would probably have negatively impacted the day far more than having a slightly iffy ranking system did.

Innis Carson wrote: From a purely logical standpoint I agree with all of this. However, this was put to a vote early on in the day, and the Countdown Club members voted uniformly in favour of points-only ranking, outnumbering the c4cers in the room. Why they prefer it so much is anyone's guess, but it definitely seemed like one of those times where arguing is more hassle than it's worth - the ensuing confusion and resentment would probably have negatively impacted the day far more than having a slightly iffy ranking system did.

Ditto - I voted with the club for similar reasons, I think they were vaguely grumpy at getting trounced on their own turf anyway, never mind us flouncing in and changing the rules as well

And that's with me only losing once all day...

On a slightly less controversial note, did anyone accidentally leave their highly-prized Coblivilon souvenir pen at the bowling club? If so, Nita has it and could probably send it to you for a small cost (or you could collect it in a year's time - or whenever you next see Innis!)

Mike Brown wrote:On a slightly less controversial note, did anyone accidentally leave their highly-prized Coblivilon souvenir pen at the bowling club? If so, Nita has it and could probably send it to you for a small cost (or you could collect it in a year's time - or whenever you next see Innis!)

That might be Michelle, she did lose it at one stage during the day................

James Robinson wrote:

Mike Brown wrote:On a slightly less controversial note, did anyone accidentally leave their highly-prized Coblivilon souvenir pen at the bowling club? If so, Nita has it and could probably send it to you for a small cost (or you could collect it in a year's time - or whenever you next see Innis!)

That might be Michelle, she did lose it at one stage during the day................

I t was indeed my pen. I am considering going through to the club again at some point soon since it's practically local so I hope they can keep it safe for me until then.

Didn't we all get a few of them each though?

Susie/Nick stole one of mine when I was getting Kerry's birthday card signed, lol, but I still have another

Michelle Nevitt wrote:

James Robinson wrote:

Mike Brown wrote:On a slightly less controversial note, did anyone accidentally leave their highly-prized Coblivilon souvenir pen at the bowling club? If so, Nita has it and could probably send it to you for a small cost (or you could collect it in a year's time - or whenever you next see Innis!)

That might be Michelle, she did lose it at one stage during the day................

I t was indeed my pen. I am considering going through to the club again at some point soon since it's practically local so I hope they can keep it safe for me until then.

Will ask Nita to keep it for you.