c4countdown

Gavin Chipper

It's Jono.

Gavin Chipper

People who fan their face. Doubly so when with their hands. Would it be OK if they had their hands amputated and replaced with fans, though? Well it still wouldn't be OK (see Conor's post) but as for whether it would count for double, I'll have to check and get back to you. It hasn't happened often...

Gavin Chipper

Conor wrote:People who fan their face.

Doubly so when with their hands.

Gavin Chipper

These new ones that get added to the list - is there an exact time and date when they were able to be added? Can we have the times and dates for them all?

Gavin Chipper

Had a dream last night where Adam Gillard was upset with me because I offered him a bite of my burger but I only let him take one literal bite. He was also complaining that I should have let him have more because he had done me a favour by passing on money I had given him to give to someone else wh...

Gavin Chipper

I'm the sort of hypocrite on animal cruelty that Gev mentioned. Shocked and disgusted by some animal cruelty, but not going to give up eating meat (I'd like to reduce my consumption of meat, but for environmental reasons rather than animal welfare). Animals we eat are born and bred with the end goa...

Gavin Chipper

Where do people stand on utilitarianism in its purest mathematical form? Obviously it relies on the assumption that you can represent everyone's mental wellbeing with a single number. But once you've bought that, it's all go. But then, you get some interesting consequences. Obviously giving someone...

Gavin Chipper

I would be interested to know what others think about the relative value of human life and non-human animal life. To quote, not Gevin this time but the lyrics of a song (Watercress, Cruelty): "I know it's cruel to go out hunting foxes, Or to put my aftershave in rabbits' eyes. But what I want ...

Gavin Chipper

Sorry Gev, but didn't you realise? Ed Miliband has grown a beard . I'm afraid most of my attention will be focused on this - which I think we can all agree is the major political story of the day - for a while. Meanwhile, let's look into setting ourselves up as a religion instead of a political par...

Gavin Chipper

I like that you bring up Justin Gatlin though. Notwithstanding that he shouldn't be competing anyway, do you really think anything he does in the next week will be taken seriously by anyone (unless he breaks down with a muscle tear or similar early on, which is my personal prediction)? If he's goin...

Gavin Chipper

I like that you bring up Justin Gatlin though. Notwithstanding that he shouldn't be competing anyway, do you really think anything he does in the next week will be taken seriously by anyone (unless he breaks down with a muscle tear or similar early on, which is my personal prediction)? If he's goin...

Gavin Chipper

For my last post before going to bed, do you think Michael Johnson was a cheat? I'd love to think not, because he was my favourite athlete of that era bar none. And all the signs say "no"; not only did he have a strikingly different physique to his rivals, he also ran in a very idiosyncra...

Gavin Chipper

On Kelly Holmes, I don't see any particular reason to suspect her other than the standard base level of suspicion that you have to have for everyone. As I think Jim has said, she had previously been a good athlete anyway, winning medals previously in worlds and Olympics. There was no massive leap in...

Gavin Chipper

Is anyone getting the train from London tomorrow (Friday)? If so, what time?

Gavin Chipper

I've just watched a YouTube video of it. Looks quite interesting. Hey, there's plenty more where that came from, baby. I'm thinking you and me should get together and really shake this politics stuff up - your money, my brains (I'm assuming you have money) - plus your brains and my money (I don't h...

Gavin Chipper

For my last post before going to bed, do you think Michael Johnson was a cheat?

Gavin Chipper

Here is what Paula Radcliffe has to say.

Gavin Chipper

But why is it that all the Eastern Europeans women were definitely on drugs back then but most others are above suspicion? Some of their times were ridiculous but at the time Coe's and Cruz's were still pretty awesome. They still have the 9th and 13th best times ever at 1:41.73 and 1:41.77... These...

Gavin Chipper

Have you ever played with "Goal Seek" on Excel by any chance? No. Is it good? How can you - of all people - not be familiar with Goal Seek? I've not used it much lately but I used it a lot in one of my former jobs in the mid-1990s. Basically it's a "change x to make y optimum" t...

Gavin Chipper

Where do people stand on utilitarianism in its purest mathematical form? Obviously it relies on the assumption that you can represent everyone's mental wellbeing with a single number. But once you've bought that, it's all go. But then, you get some interesting consequences. Obviously giving someone...

Gavin Chipper

Actually I watched some programme a year or two ago where some statistician claimed that although the world's population is still growing, we've already reached "peak child". Yeah, it was this guy . If you read what that "guy" was writing, it was all hypothetical. Yes, it would ...

Gavin Chipper

Where do people stand on utilitarianism in its purest mathematical form? Obviously it relies on the assumption that you can represent everyone's mental wellbeing with a single number. But once you've bought that, it's all go. But then, you get some interesting consequences. Obviously giving someone ...

Gavin Chipper

Nobody? OK, let's try... You arrive via some hypothetical device in a hypothetical future, which by complete chance is exactly the same as Earth was in 1901 and as time goes on, this "future" proves to broadly mirror all the sociological and societal changes of the 20th century as you rec...

Gavin Chipper

JimBentley wrote:
Gavin Chipper wrote:Just put a handkerchief over your mouth or something.
I've only got this far so far but please, read up on the asbestos-related diseases. Hey, let's clear out the nuclear waste next, all you'll need is a protective layer of tinfoil.

It was a joke. Come on. You need to up your game!

Gavin Chipper

There's a few subjects/problems I just don't like to engage with, usually because I don't feel that I know enough about them to add anything valid to a discussion. But there's a few that I just don't like to engage with because there's so much moral ambiguity that all the possible outcomes are - in...

Gavin Chipper

OK, try this. In (particularly) sub-Saharan Africa, the incidence of sickle-cell anaemia is far higher than would normally be expected amongst a typical population. Sickle-cell anaemia isn't very pleasant and the symptoms are certainly life-affecting in a pretty bad way. It's a genetic disease, not...

Gavin Chipper

Many of you will know that since about...oh, around 1980, there's been a gradual undertaking to remove asbestos from all public buildings; up until the 1970s it had been used as a very effective flame retardant, so there was a lot of opposition to its eventual ban - the health concerns had been kno...

Gavin Chipper

Invent TV, apply for Countdown, win Series 1. But you'd be like "I've just thought of this brilliant idea to broadcast pictures and sound to the nation!" And everyone else would be like "Great! How does it work?" And you'd be like "Oh shit. Turns out I don't know any more t...

Gavin Chipper

JimBentley wrote:Nobody?

Be patient.

Gavin Chipper

It's strange that Matt Morrison and his lookalike were both photographed with the same person.

Gavin Chipper

Fucking hell I feel awful posting that, but it made me laugh so much. Susie, if you see this I genuinely apologise and would love the opportunity to prove how attractive I still find you :mrgreen: I don't get it. You've literally just posted two pictures of Susie Dent and tried to pass it off as so...

Gavin Chipper

I think up to four sneezes is acceptable.

Gavin Chipper

JimBentley wrote:
Stewart Gordon wrote:From where did Nick get that Boris Becker was, at 17, the youngest ever Wimbledon winner? According to sources I've seen, it was 15-year-old Lottie Dod in 1887.
Youngest male winner.

Lottie Dod was the Marita Koch of her day, making her the youngest female and male winner.

Gavin Chipper

Additionally, from a completely utilitarian perspective, we already have an ageing population. Is funding charities that tackle diseases disproportionately affecting the elderly, thereby increasing longevity, really the best idea? It's not at all rational, least of all economically ( pensions cost ...

Gavin Chipper

People who actually use the tracker pad thing on their laptop rather than using a mouse.
Horse people.

Gavin Chipper

Ryan Taylor wrote:21:48

Drugs cheat.

Gavin Chipper

I've just sent payment for both (while in the Netherlands, so be impressed).

Gavin Chipper

But why is it that all the Eastern Europeans women were definitely on drugs back then but most others are above suspicion? Some of their times were ridiculous but at the time Coe's and Cruz's were still pretty awesome. They still have the 9th and 13th best times ever at 1:41.73 and 1:41.77. Bit dis...

Gavin Chipper

Additionally, from a completely utilitarian perspective, we already have an ageing population. Is funding charities that tackle diseases disproportionately affecting the elderly, thereby increasing longevity, really the best idea? It's not at all rational, least of all economically ( pensions cost ...

Gavin Chipper

Suspended Russian athletes?

Gavin Chipper

Mark Deeks wrote:As usual I will be offering lifts that you can all bluntly and unnecessarily refuse.

Are you driving the official COLIN train from King's Cross? That would be awesome.

Gavin Chipper

In first and Travelodge booked at £54 for both nights. I've won all the important stuff. Well getting Ben to start this thread when I'm not in is hardly fair. And now I'm in an airport, but when I do pay and the times are adjusted for convenience levels (like the age/sex rankings for parkrun) I wil...

Gavin Chipper

No, that wasn't my point and in fact if pressed I would say that he wasn't one of the cheats (in what should be said was an "anything goes" era). He might have cheated, he might not, but on the balance of it I would say that he didn't (nor did Ovett, Cram, Cruz, Scott and others of the er...

Gavin Chipper

I'm willing to bet that most of these 28 athletes, once they are named, will mainly be Russian. Interesting bet - I understand that you are saying that at least 15 of the 28 athletes will be "mainly Russian", whatever that means... perhaps they are cyborg drug cheats with some body parts ...

Gavin Chipper

Charlie Reams wrote:BTW I was just saying this to be amusing, I think compared to the basic Apterous--non-Apterous skill gap it's probably marginal.

Also actually using "partial" as the opposite of "impartial" - who does that?

Gavin Chipper

I can't be arsed to dig it out right now, but Bernard Lagat was particularly suspicious because after fifteen-odd years of competing with perfect teeth (and at a pretty good level, he certainly will have made a living), at the age of about 33 (maybe even later) his times improved dramatically and h...

Gavin Chipper

I quite like the "impartiality" of the other rounds. Isn't it sort of partial that the letters distribution is very heavily weighted towards "nice" letters, providing a steep learning curve for lexonerds at the expense of everyone else? :o I'm not sure what would happen with a m...

Gavin Chipper

Jon Corby wrote:Because politicians are all nonces.

Again...

Gavin Chipper

Jon Corby wrote:Does it mildly bother anyone else at all when a contestant says "I've got a risky 8... DESPOTIC" and then Susie says "yes, not risky at all" because it's valid?

Every time.

Gavin Chipper

Tony Atkins wrote:All conundrums are words on the Christians Against Poverty website http://www.capuk.org/
for which money was being raised.

Is this why the Capplemans were invited?

Gavin Chipper

I'd be willing to bet that Hicham El Guerrouj and Bernard Lagat will be called out (they're the two I'm personally certain were cheating and as far as I know are no longer protected) but to be honest nobody's name would surprise me, however big. Bekele? Gebrselassie? Why not? It's interesting that ...

Gavin Chipper

The IAAF have to decided to suspend some athletes. So is this just because of what got into the press? All comes across as a bit dodgy.

Gavin Chipper

(Not rules so much but just a general judgment question): If a nine came up in the letters round that you had planned to set as the conundrum, would you change it? Would it matter if either/both/neither contestant had got the nine? I probably wouldn't. You'd also have to worry about similar words c...

Gavin Chipper

Johnny Canuck wrote:
Peter Mabey wrote:Alt 1st numbers: (10+9)x(50+3)-5-3
Congratulations, you just won a Concorde.

I think the oxygen mask takes priority!

Gavin Chipper

Well, I would have used a semicolon, you obviously haven't learnt about them yet.

Gavin Chipper

There's no way I'd accept BRUSHWOOD if someone said "It's either BRUSHWOOD or WOODBRUSH". It's not the same as taking their first answer in cases where they give an answer and then correct themselves. They've buzzed in with both answers and just happened to say one of them first, because y...

Gavin Chipper

I had a Countdown dream last night. I was on the train to Hykeham (presumably for COLIN) when this weird disembodied thought came through the carriage that went something like "Gevin is a really good cyclist". I was just beginning to feel smug about this when none other than Ben Wilson sor...

Gavin Chipper

Ben Wilson wrote:My latest one saw me watching a Senna-like documentary, ahead of the British Grand Prix, about the greatest Formula One driver who ever lived, who naturally happened to be Jim Bentley.

It must be annoying for Jeff Gordon that he isn't even the best racing driver born on a particular day.

Gavin Chipper

I had also heard that Joyce Cansfield once had Stewart Gordon's balls bouncing off her face. It's annoying when you bump into a hot girl you haven't seen for ages in the supermarket, and in amongst general chat to impress her you drop in that you're a Countdown semi-finalist and instead of being al...

Gavin Chipper

Didn't Stewart Gordon once throw a ball into the face of series 1 champion Joyce Cansfield? This is the rumour I heard.

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