c4countdown

Fantastic work Phil! If this comes off I'll dedicate a song to you.

Legendary Phil.

Funny. I've been planning to come to Nottingham that weekend for a winter barbecue. I wonder will it be an afternoon or an evening event. If it's on in the evening and I can make it, I would love to hop on a train over and pop in and say hello at least.

EDIT - I mean the barbecue of course. If it's on later on, maybe i could make it to COLIN.

I was wondering with these events whether it's worth having some official instructions on how to play/host these games. Dependig on the experience of the people at each table, some things aren't necessarily obvious. Things like the order of who picks (especially at the break when one person picks twice in a row), who to ask first to declare, whose word to ask for first, and how to host and buzz for a conundrum.

Gavin Chipper wrote:I was wondering with these events whether it's worth having some official instructions on how to play/host these games. Dependig on the experience of the people at each table, some things aren't necessarily obvious. Things like the order of who picks (especially at the break when one person picks twice in a row), who to ask first to declare, whose word to ask for first, and how to host and buzz for a conundrum.

Normally I rely on the fact that at least one person per table will have attended a co-event before (well, an Edinburgh-style one anyway) but I suppose it couldn't hurt to put a little help sheet in the goodie bag this year.

Travelodge saaaaale!

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/ ... avelodge15

Unfortunately these cunts know that we're all coming down that weekend and haven't made the 25th or 26th £15. Well, 26th seemed to be £15 yesterday for a while. But no more.

Yeah I think pretty much twats like Corby who lost their patience and booked illegally are to blame for the 26th and 27th not going into MASSIVE SALE MODE like they did before. I had to book for £34 and £19 yesterday, and Saturday is now back up to £38. Insane. I will be bringing an invoice for our friendship along to the event Corby.

Just over 3 weeks to go and still plenty of spaces left! 36 is the all-time co-event attendance record so let's see if we can't kick 2013 with the biggest and best tournament ever!

I have details of food for those who are interested- last year's sausage casserole will likely be replaced by a quorn-based spaghetti bolognese (so same option for vegetarians and omnivores). No word on the dessert yet but as Kirk isn't coming, probably no apple crumble.

The price may have to rise for this, however- I'll have exact details once I know how much interest there is in the food.

I'd be interested in food. Kirk isn't the only person that likes apple crumble you know! I bet I could eat twice as much as him.

Gavin Chipper wrote:I'd be interested in food. Kirk isn't the only person that likes apple crumble you know! I bet I could eat twice as much as him.

This stinks of an eating competition, someone is going to have to step into Kirk's shoes to face Gevin!?

Matt Morrison wrote:

Gavin Chipper wrote:I'd be interested in food. Kirk isn't the only person that likes apple crumble you know! I bet I could eat twice as much as him.

This stinks of an eating competition, someone is going to have to step into Kirk's shoes to face Gevin!?

So at least we're settled on apple crumble. It's just about whether we have an eating competition now.

Gevin's a two pudding man, remember. He has the advantage of experience.

You might have put people off who didn't know that, Mark. Therefore if no one else accepts the challenge it is officially you vs Gevin.

I've also stared open-mouthed as Gev polished off two breakfasts at the Little Chef.

IN ONE SITTING.

Matt Morrison wrote:Yeah I think pretty much twats like Corby who lost their patience and booked illegally are to blame for the 26th and 27th not going into MASSIVE SALE MODE like they did before. I had to book for £34 and £19 yesterday, and Saturday is now back up to £38. Insane. I will be bringing an invoice for our friendship along to the event Corby.

£34 & £37 now for Fri/Sat. MENTAL.

Matt Morrison wrote:You might have put people off who didn't know that, Mark. Therefore if no one else accepts the challenge it is officially you vs Gevin.

Fucking bring it.

As long as it's not apple. Don't like apples.

Entertaining as the pie-eating contest will no doubt be, if there isn't any more demand you may have to supply it yourself.

Also I've been hearing a lot of people saying they'll be heading along but haven't got their money to me yet- payment in advance is the only way to guarantee your place at COLIN but if you'd prefer to pay on the day, just let me know and I'll (provisionally) add your name to the entry list.

See you all on the 26th!

Ben Wilson wrote:Entertaining as the pie-eating contest will no doubt be, if there isn't any more demand you may have to supply it yourself.

Also I've been hearing a lot of people saying they'll be heading along but haven't got their money to me yet- payment in advance is the only way to guarantee your place at COLIN but if you'd prefer to pay on the day, just let me know and I'll (provisionally) add your name to the entry list.

See you all on the 26th!

Please add me to the provisional list. Will pay at some point.

Jon Corby wrote:I've also stared open-mouthed as Gev polished off two breakfasts at the Little Chef.

IN ONE SITTING.

This thread probably makes me look like some sort of obese git.

Gavin Chipper wrote:

Jon Corby wrote:I've also stared open-mouthed as Gev polished off two breakfasts at the Little Chef.

IN ONE SITTING.

This thread probably makes me look like some sort of obese git.

^^^^^ LOLLLLLL

Well, looks like i'm not coming over for that weekend after all as Sarah is wanting come to me that weekend instead. Who has a barbecue in winter anyway? Back and forth to Nottingham all the time now, so hope there is an event there later this year. Hope it goes well and ye all have a smashing time of it. By the way, if anyone is still looking for a cheap place to stay, i was looking at laterooms.com and found twin rooms at the ibis hotel for £27 on Friday and £35 on Saturday.

http://www.laterooms.com/en/hotel-reser ... ncoln.aspx

Actually they seem to have gone up to 29 and 36 now, but still fairly cheap as that's the price for two.

31 entrants as of this evening! As such comes my usual annual plea- If you're able to bring copies of the board game and/or ODE3s with you, please do so- last thing we need is to be caught short on the day.

Keep expressing interest for food btw (i'll take it as read that Mark & Gev will want some).

Ben Wilson wrote:31 entrants as of this evening! As such comes my usual annual plea- If you're able to bring copies of the board game and/or ODE3s with you, please do so- last thing we need is to be caught short on the day.

I can certainly bring a board game and can now definitely confirm my attendance, thanks to the outcome of a certain draw today.

I love my football team so much, but a home time with Leicester, after seeing them stuff Town 6-1 on New Year's Day is something I don't really want to see again........

James Robinson wrote:I love my football team so much

It's about time you grew out of it then.

Ben Wilson wrote:31 entrants as of this evening! As such comes my usual annual plea- If you're able to bring copies of the board game and/or ODE3s with you, please do so- last thing we need is to be caught short on the day.

Keep expressing interest for food btw (i'll take it as read that Mark & Gev will want some).

Yeah. No apple pie though. Just bring out two troughs of chips and let me and Gev decide who the better man is. HINT: it's me.

Are you up for this Gev? It seems Mark actually is so there's a distinct possibility I'm going to start getting really excited about organising a mini-eating contest. If you are not going to do it, please nip it in the bud right now.

If you don't do it, you're a big girly wuss.

Mark Deeks wrote:If you don't do it, you're a big girly wuss.

For those sort of tactics to work, you might have to come up with something that will actually offend Gevin.

Gevin if you don't do it everyone will like you.

Think of how popular you'll be through not stooping to my level! Everyone will like, yay Gevin!

Not chips.

Ok, this is amazing. Let's move forward.

It has to be:
a) vegetarian of course (for Gevin, if you were wondering Mark)
b) easily available
c) not too expensive to get hold of lots of

For reasons b) and c) we can't do anything to do with Ben's food, and more than anything it's pointing at supermarket fare.

Let's continue the discussions...

Err well I have the diet of a 7 year old boy, so it might be tough to find common ground.

Mark Deeks wrote: Err well I have the diet of a 7 year old boy, so it might be tough to find common ground.

Raw carrots and custard creams blended together.

No. There's two things in the world I absolutely cannot eat, and carrots are one of them. The other's pineapple.

Now if it was just tcustard creams, we'd have ourselves a competition.

Matt Morrison wrote: b) easily available
c) not too expensive to get hold of lots of

For reasons b) and c) we can't do anything to do with Ben's food.

Not sure whether or not an 'oi' is appropriate here.

Ben Wilson wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote: b) easily available
c) not too expensive to get hold of lots of

For reasons b) and c) we can't do anything to do with Ben's food.

Not sure whether or not an 'oi' is appropriate here.

Haha, no offence intended! You mentioned demand for food was lukewarm at best, so it seems unfair to ask your mum to provide the usual amount but just for two people!

Chips (Mark's original suggestion I think) would have been a cracker of a middle ground if they were easier to prepare from frozen. Maybe it is doable - Ben, what facilities are there in the kitchen? Baking tray and an oven?

Something to do with bread would be easy. Or biscuits, chocolate, etc. etc.

If I wasn't on a vague diet, I'd have been up for this and all. Won both Chinese AYCE contests and "eating pie with your hands tied behind your back" contests before. (The former was 22 full plates BTW - I was not losing to that fucker)

If your diet is "vague" and you've done 22 plates of Chinese before, you might still be able to take part in this one, win it, and not stray from your diet too hard!

Matt Morrison wrote:

Ben Wilson wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote: b) easily available
c) not too expensive to get hold of lots of

For reasons b) and c) we can't do anything to do with Ben's food.

Not sure whether or not an 'oi' is appropriate here.

Haha, no offence intended! You mentioned demand for food was lukewarm at best, so it seems unfair to ask your mum to provide the usual amount but just for two people!

Chips (Mark's original suggestion I think) would have been a cracker of a middle ground if they were easier to prepare from frozen. Maybe it is doable - Ben, what facilities are there in the kitchen? Baking tray and an oven?

Something to do with bread would be easy. Or biscuits, chocolate, etc. etc.

Fish finger sandwiches!

Mark Deeks wrote:Fish finger sandwiches!

a)

If you have the diet of a seven year old boy then it's cheese sandwiches you need. Just plain is preferred, although sliced tomato, cucumber, apples, carrots and / or grapes on the side for when your mummy insists works well.

Phil Collinge wrote:Beth has asked that I call her in the New Year so there will be no news on this front until then. The impression I got from her was quite favourable, I'd suggest we're about 70% likely to have Karaoke that night.

Well, as agreed, I called Beth last week and, although I was still being told we' d definitely have karaoke on 26th it was quite obvious that it hadn't actually been arranged. We agreed that I'd call again this week.

Yesterday I called, Beth was busy. I was told she would call me back - she didn't.

Today I called, Beth was unavailable. I was again told she'd call me back. As of now she hasn't.

So I'm starting to feel like a bit of a pain in the arse now, and think it's best just to let things take their course. Maybe we get it, maybe we don't, but I don't think there's any more we can do to influence it.

Have you tried calling Beth?

Jon Corby wrote:Have you tried calling Beth?

No.

Have you?

I have just taken the liberty of emailing the Fox and Hounds via the website:

"Good afternoon,

I am emailing on behalf of a group of people who are hoping to come to the Fox and Hounds on the evening of Saturday 26th January.

I understand from one of my friends, Phil Collinge, that there is due to be karaoke that evening, and would be grateful if you could confirm that this has been arranged.

Thank you for your assistance.

Kind regards,
Heather Styles"

I hope this will help, and I'll post again if I get a response.

I've just sent them this:

Good afternoon,

I am emailing on behalf of a group of people who are hoping to come to the Fox and Hounds on the evening of Saturday 26th January.

I understand from two of my friends, Phil Collinge & Heather Styles, that there is due to be karaoke that evening, and would be grateful if you could confirm that this has been arranged.

Thank you for your assistance.

Kind regards,
Jon Corby

Good afternoon,

I am emailing on behalf of a group of people who are hoping to come to the Fox and Hounds on the evening of Saturday 26th January.

I understand from three geeks on a website, Phil Collinge, Heather Styles and Jon Corby, that there is due to be karaoke that evening, and would be grateful if you could confirm that this has been arranged.

Thank you for your assistance.

Kind regards,
Toby Pereira

P.S. Get your puddings ready, I'm coming in strong.

Good afternoon,

It has been brought to my attention that you have received a fraudulent communique purporting to be from one Toby Pereira. The sender of this missive was in fact Matt Morrison. Whilst the keenness for karaoke emphasised within said memorandum should not be disregarded, I leave you to decide the readiness of your puddings in accordance with your own projections and general business practices.

Yours,

Ben Wilson.

Good afternoon,

I am emailing on behalf of a group of people who are hoping to come to the Fox and Hounds on the evening of Saturday 26th January.

I understand from several well-informed parties that I am actually the subject of an existing barring order, and would be grateful if you could lift it so I can sing some Whitney Houston songs at the karaoke.

Thank you for your assistance.

Kind regards,
Shane

Matt Morrison wrote:Good afternoon,

I am emailing on behalf of a group of people who are hoping to come to the Fox and Hounds on the evening of Saturday 26th January.

I understand from several well-informed parties that I am actually the subject of an existing barring order, and would be grateful if you could lift it so I can sing some Whitney Houston songs at the karaoke.

Thank you for your assistance.

Kind regards,
Shane

LIKE

Matt Morrison wrote:If your diet is "vague" and you've done 22 plates of Chinese before, you might still be able to take part in this one, win it, and not stray from your diet too hard!

That WAS an anomaly... you don't set up a competition between 2 people of Saffa heritage and expect it NOT to become war...

Final call for whether or not anyone wants a cooked lunch at COLIN- if you don't want a full meal at lunch we can do a bowl of soup & a sandwich for £1 but there does need to be sufficient demand to make it worth doing.

Also, please bring along board games & ODEs if you can! I can supply 8 copies of the board game but we'll need- hopefully- at least 14.

Can I have the 28oz steak and the champers please, nice one

Hi, I'd be happy with soup and a sandwich for £1. I'm planning to bring some cakes to share (hopefully enough to go around, but probably not enough for the eating competition as well!) No reply yet from Ye Olde Foxe and Houndes (sorry if my email was a tad overformal; I was in 'work mode' when I wrote it!)

If it helps my eating competition credentials: at Co:Edi the ECC laid on a lovely and bloody massive spread. I was naturally first in the queue and took what I thought would be a good first portion. I then put some of it back because it was breaking the paper plate. And people STILL remarked on how much food I had. So yeah, bring your A game Mr Chipper, or you can't hang.