c4countdown

JimBentley

By the way, what do we think of Amber Rudd talking about coloured people? Personally, I think it's amazing that someone at that level of politics isn't completely aware of such no-go words. But I don't think it shows any racism really (as much as it is nice to stick the boot into a Tory) - it's jus...

JimBentley

It's been amusingly shambolic so far, there couldn't really have been a worse start. They haven't exactly put a dream team together, have they? Mike Gapes, for chrissakes. Going to be interesting to see how it develops over the next few days, though, could be some others joining them. Very surprise...

JimBentley

Wow, a break from endless Brexit stories. Something semi-interesting has happened: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/18/chuka-umunna-and-other-mps-set-to-quit-labour-party It's been amusingly shambolic so far, there couldn't really have been a worse start. They haven't exactly put a drea...

JimBentley

All fine, until tonight, when I watched my final episode, "The National Anthem"...The entire premise was distasteful and ludicrous. I'm amazed the series wasn't pulled after episode 1. Probably because outside of Bible-Belt America, TV stations tend not to be run by concerned prudes. The days of Ma...

JimBentley

MP Robert Halfon thinks we should scrap GCSEs . And even though he's a Tory, I agree with him. We go to school to learn stuff, and I think it should be a safe learning environment, not something for employers to be able to use against you at a later date if you haven't paid enough attention. Obviou...

JimBentley

A belt. Me neither. They're just for people who go on a diet after buying their trousers. I've always found that if I get jeans or whatever in my actual waist size, though, they're too tight in the legs (I know that's been variously fashionable over the years, but I just find it uncomfortable). So ...

JimBentley

You need two implements - whether it's a knife and a fork, two forks, a spoon and a fork or whatever. I have a friend who eats with just a fork and it's really frustrating watching him chase bits of food around the plate with it. Either that or you end up shoving bits of food onto your fork with yo...

JimBentley

Just to echo what Graeme said, major thanks to Ben for organising (and as ever to Jill for helping out). The event ran like a dream, and I'm sure a lot of preparation goes into making that happen, so serious thanks to Ben for his hard work and dedication, it really is appreciated. I'd also like to t...

JimBentley

Anyone seen "Predestination"? It's another relatively low-budget film (although not as low-budget as "Primer", obviously) that deals with time travel, but in a completely different way. To begin with, it seemed as though it was going to be a bit slow, but the story becomes really compelling and I e...

JimBentley

Watched Arrival. It was alright. It was a bit dreary in terms of the colour pallete, very un sci-fi like. And it went a bit weird in the end in the same way Interstellar did where it strays more into the fi than the sci. Still worth the watch. Amy Adams is always good. I found that this was one of ...

JimBentley

At the risk of going a bit Philomena Cunk on this, how did the concept of money even start? I know that there was the barter system, where you'd exchange a cow for a certain amount of grain, or whatever, and that makes sense. But the whole concept of money makes no sense to me at all. Honestly, I fe...

JimBentley

OK, here's one for the economics people: If every country's economy has a fiscal deficit (and all major economies do) then who is the interest on their loans paid to? Where are such loans taken out? We hear (for instance) that the UK must pay £30 billion to service its debt each year, but where does...

JimBentley

Travelodge Black Friday code 25OFF will give you Travelodge for £60.75 Exclusive 15% cashback on Quidco takes it down to £51.64 (not sure how long this rate is on as it's extraordinarily high) Use the £2.50 today-only Quidco offer for £49.14 That's pretty fucking good. If you're not a Quidco member...

JimBentley

Fleabag - Not finding it as funny as I thought I would? The Obama scene was very entertaining though. I've not watched this because I was put off by the Guardian's constant articles about how it was The Greatest Comedy Show Ever Made And So Transgressive And Amazing And Empowering. Whereas if the g...

JimBentley

Did it woohoo. How do I upload a pic? This board doesn't do image hosting, so you'll need to upload it somewhere else and then link to it. I've used Imgur in the past but they've somehow managed to break their direct linking facility recently and it doesn't work anymore, but there are plenty of oth...

JimBentley

Fleabag - Not finding it as funny as I thought I would? The Obama scene was very entertaining though. I've not watched this because I was put off by the Guardian's constant articles about how it was The Greatest Comedy Show Ever Made And So Transgressive And Amazing And Empowering. Whereas if the g...

JimBentley

This is quite an interesting problem if you're looking to do it within a single cell. I like trying to do this sort of thing for the sake of neatness, but often it's just easier and quicker to take another route. Like Tom said, seven individual IF statements in separate cells, combined into an eight...

JimBentley

Just piercings. Stretched ears and two pierced nipples There was a guy on Masterchef yesterday with massively stretched ear piercings (like, both earlobes were just big holes with what looked like black plastic rings to keep the holes open) and I'd be terrified that something could get caught in on...

JimBentley

To expand on this further, I'm not sure it's really about empathy anyway. There are a lot of things where people are like "OMG, this is like so amazeballs", and I'm like "Yeah, it's OK" and quite often these are things that have nothing to do with human emotions. For example, Jono's ridiculous reac...

JimBentley

This isn't even about being unwilling to show emotion. I think it's more about not forming a particularly strong emotional attachment to a fictional character you first encountered half an hour ago. No, I think it's about empathy. You have many good traits, you're funny, you're clever, I could go o...

JimBentley

Just piercings. Stretched ears and two pierced nipples There was a guy on Masterchef yesterday with massively stretched ear piercings (like, both earlobes were just big holes with what looked like black plastic rings to keep the holes open) and I'd be terrified that something could get caught in on...

JimBentley

This isn't even about being unwilling to show emotion. I think it's more about not forming a particularly strong emotional attachment to a fictional character you first encountered half an hour ago. No, I think it's about empathy. You have many good traits, you're funny, you're clever, I could go o...

JimBentley

I don't know if this is just me, but some of the reactions that some people on here have to some television programmes is completely alien to me. I'm never "in bits" after watching anything, and to be honest I find it a little bit weird. Am I the weird one? I used to be like that when I was much yo...

JimBentley

Everyone else I know has a proper mobile phone (by which I mean a smartphone), but I still don't have one. I've never really felt the need to get one as whether at work or at home, I'm in front of a computer anyway and there's nothing a smartphone can do that I can't do on a computer. I do have an o...

JimBentley

The episode that I don't think I could bear to watch again, for very different reasons, is The Harrowing from series 1. Brilliantly done but genuinely disturbing. And had some really funny lines: "It's just like giving birth...but in reverse!" etc. But yeah, that ending was a bit much, wouldn't lik...

JimBentley

Primer - What was that all about? ?/10 Finally watched this and it's amazing. 100% totally recommended, would see again (I think I need to because I definitely didn't understand it all the first time and I've looked at diagrams and everything. Should have made it clearer that I too recommend it. Ha...

JimBentley

Inside No. 9 really is tremendous, isn't it? Really glad there's going to be another series. I've enjoyed every episode in one way or another but as Marc has said, "The Twelve Days Of Christine" is the real standout, probably the best half hour of television I've ever seen (and I've been watching TV...

JimBentley

Mark James wrote: ↑
Sat Oct 24, 2015 10:25 pm
Primer - What was that all about? ?/10

Finally watched this and it's amazing. 100% totally recommended, would see again (I think I need to because I definitely didn't understand it all the first time and I've looked at diagrams and everything.

JimBentley

I'm in two minds about tattoos. Some of them can look absolutely amazing and I'd describe them as genuine works of art. One of my friends has some sort of Lovecraftian monster that winds around his torso, really detailed and colourful (took weeks to do, I remember him getting it) and it does look in...

JimBentley

I've seen many a stoppage caused by a good body shot But that's a stoppage, not a knockout, they're completely different things! I'm not making any kind of value judgement on boxing here, I quite enjoy watching it, but let's not pretend it doesn't engender risks for the participants, most often man...

JimBentley

Anyone seen the German film "Look Who's Back" ("Er ist wieder da")? It's pretty dark, but really funny (if you like that kind of humour) and I think has some interesting points to make. It's basically "what if Hitler came back in the present day and what would he do" and while they milk it (Hitler ...

JimBentley

I don't have a nomination, but am protesting against the inclusion of boxers - whose objective is to inflict brain injury - the one part of the body which never heals. (They even wear padded gloves to protect themselves against injuring themselves in doing so.) :( I don't think their purpose is to ...

JimBentley

Anyone seen the German film "Look Who's Back" ("Er ist wieder da")? It's pretty dark, but really funny (if you like that kind of humour) and I think has some interesting points to make. It's basically "what if Hitler came back in the present day and what would he do" and while they milk it (Hitler i...

JimBentley

I concur again with Bradman. I find this weird. I don't think I could say who the greatest ever sportsman would be, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't choose a cricketer. Cricket doesn't test athletic abilities in any meaningful way and one person's influence over the team performance is only ever goin...

JimBentley

Because I have loads going on in my life right now, I was just reading this news story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46044014 The Belgian was an unused sub for the League Two strugglers in Saturday's draw with Newport but feels like he can have a big impact for Jim Bentley's men. Jim Bentle...

JimBentley

I have a vague memory of hearing that you can go back on Countdown as a contestant if it's at least 10 years after your prior appearance. Am I talking shit or is this actually a reality? It's real. Would be great to see you back on there and I can't see a reason for you to be turned down. Go for it.

JimBentley

Stephen Holford wrote: ↑
Fri Sep 07, 2018 12:09 pm
Steve Pemberton from the League of Gentlemen

That is excellent. I rarely see any of these likenesses but that is spot-on.

JimBentley

I think the day of the 36th Countdown anniversary was also amazingly Damian's 5000th episode. It was really funny, because filming started as ever but Rachel kicked it off with some tribute material to the occasion. Susie and Nick were obviously in on the act and as the anecdotes got more and more ...

JimBentley

I have to just mention that I've never had a dream related to Countdown - or any of the people I've met through Countdown - in any way. I find this a bit odd, because a lot of my dreams are just re-hashes of stuff that has happened to me but with details slightly changed. A few years back, I was hav...

JimBentley

I went to university but I don't have a degree. It's a very long and convoluted story of a slow-motion fuck-up. I'm going to have a go at writing it all down, as it's quite an entertaining story, but not one for tonight. Maybe tomorrow. [edit] Started to do this and got sidetracked into a story abou...

JimBentley

Porn films are excellent for this sort of thing, there's some genuine creativity in some of the titles. All of these are real: Gulp Fiction The Bone Ranger Oklahomo! School of Cock Porn on the 4th of July King Dong Fill Bill The Long Ranger And slightly cheating: Saturday Night Beaver Night Of The G...

JimBentley

I think he has a thing about cheats. He was berating John Higgins at the snooker this year (I believe he was once found guilty of throwing games ). There was quite a lot of this online during the World Championships last month, but wasn't it just one the News of the World's entrapments by "fake she...

JimBentley

Quite surprised at some of the names mentioned here. Tom Hargreaves is still very much around; I don't think I've met him in person since the very first COLIN but we've been friends on Facebook for a while and by all accounts is having a good time. Kirk, obviously is a superstar darts caller and can...

JimBentley

I'm more interested in the more historic names - Harvey Freeman, Allan Saldanha, for example. Harvey Freeman was always a bit of an enigma, wasn't he? Nobody seems to know anything much about him at all. I've tried in the past to find out about his life outside of Countdown and have always turned u...

JimBentley

I thought Clarkson hadn't been too bad as host, but that howler with the ibex question was unforgivable. As examples of What Not To Do As A Quiz Show Host go, saying (exact words) "I'm not even going to look at the screen" before confidently telling the contestant they've got the answer right must ...

JimBentley

Lots of my faves were given the boot last night- FYR Macedonia, Switzerland (in particular whom I voted for several times as she delivered a great performance with a great song, and plus they have been underrated for a few years now) and also sad that Azerbaijan and Belgium did not pass. Most shock...

JimBentley

I knew that Avicii was ill but his death today was a bit shocking. He becomes the latest high-profile member of the 27 club, probably the best-known since Amy Winehouse.

(edit: I definitely read earlier that he was 27, but it turns out he was actually 28. Still tragically young).

JimBentley

Cake have done some very decent covers. Everyone knows I Will Survive (I recall Gloria Gaynor described it as her least favourite cover as they done a swear in it) but there are two others on Fashion Nugget that I prefer - Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps is brilliant (and in a way hard to compare to the ...

JimBentley

What are those tripod thingies with camera thingies with people in fluorescent jacket thingies manning them? Seems to be some sort of survey equipment but what is it used for? They've had them manned every morning for about a month next to a road I pass on my commute and I'm too scared to ask one o...

JimBentley

Yes, Marc is completely correct here, it's all down to the sense of balance. Walking on anything other than solid (unyielding) ground triggers the body to compensate (balance reflex). Walking on a beach with soft sand is similar. When walking on anything other than a solid surface, it's a natural re...

JimBentley

I don't know why the 2018 thread is even running, this is where the action is. Latest standings: 1. Mark Deeks - 263 points - 4 hits 2. Sean D - 256 points - 4 hits 3. James Laverty - 224 points - 4 hits 4. Jim Bentley - 203 points - 3 hits 5. Thomas Carey - 162 points - 3 hits 6. Gavin Chipper - 12...

JimBentley

Recently we busted through 11.22.63 which had your typical Stephen King plotholes in it but we still enjoyed and was pretty easy to watch, fairly exciting and tense etc. I can't believe that I haven't watched this yet, as I''m a Stephen King fan (mainly his books, but a lot of the film and TV adapt...

JimBentley

At the risk of derailing this thread slightly, at the same time our family car was one of these, a Volkswagen Variant: http://www.fahnn.co.uk/images/vwv.jpg I only mention it because they seem to be completely forgotten now. I remember when my mum once completely demolished part of the garden wall w...

JimBentley

I used to love Boney M in 1978 (especially Brown Girl in the Ring), but this is half memory, half post hoc filling in. The first #1 I'm sure I remember is Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick from Jan 1979, just after I'd turned 2. I certainly loved Pink Floyd's decade-ending #1 too. Coincidentally, the f...

JimBentley

1. Mark Deeks - 263 points - 4 hits 2. Sean D - 256 points - 4 hits 3. James Laverty - 224 points - 4 hits 4. Jim Bentley - 203 points - 3 hits 5. Gavin Chipper - 126 points - 2 hits 6. Thomas Carey - 109 points - 2 hits 7. Andy McGurn - 80 points - 2 hits 8. Marc Meakin - 56 points - 1 hit 9. Ben W...

JimBentley

Much more than unlikely than a single week at number one is that One Dance by Drake was number one for 15 consecutive weeks in 2016, which is just one fewer than the consecutive record held by Bryan Adams's (Everything I Do) I Do It For You. It's not just that I think fairly unmemorable; I also nev...

JimBentley

How meta would it be if it the phrase "cold squeezing" actually ended up in the dictionary as a legitimate phrase and it's origin came from a website whose object is essentially obsessing about what gets to be included in the dictionary? I want to encourage as many people as possible to continue to...

JimBentley

Why is there such a concept as "supermodel"? Of all the jobs that exist, model must be right down near the bottom of the list when it comes to the potential to be super at it. I'd be more likely to call a dustman super. It's just money, isn't it? A "supermodel" is a model who makes tens or hundreds...

JimBentley

I did just have a big lunch of loads of soup and some bread, so I'll let you know what difference it makes later on when I've had a poo. If anybody else wants to update their weights after poos, that'd be cool. Also when do you weigh the least, is it first thing in the morning? I know this is suppo...

JimBentley

I've got that on cassette single (I've got all the KLF singles in the same format, in fact). Bet there's nobody else here who can say that. ...are those tapes worth loads? I saw something on the YouTube comments about them deleting all their back catalogue from UK sale when they retired. Unfortunat...

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