Old Bexley & Sidcup: The betting overstates CON chances – politicalbetting.com

System · December 2021

Old Bexley & Sidcup: The betting overstates CON chances – politicalbetting.com

Tomorrow sees the first of the December by-elections in the outer London seat of Old Bexley and Sidcup which was held by the Tories at GE2019 with a majority of 40% plus. It is what happened last time that is driving the betting that currently rates the Tory chance at 91%. This, I believe, ignores the current troubles for the party and it leader.

Read the full story here

eek · December 2021

First - as the Tories will be tomorrow.

JBriskin3 · December 2021

Hope to be on PB tomorrow night for all the action.

rcs1000 · December 2021

As everyone knows, 70% of the surface of the earth is covered in water. And said water is not - as far as I know - carbonated.

So would it be fair to say that the earth is flat?

Pulpstar · December 2021

Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.

JBriskin3 · December 2021

rcs1000 said:
As everyone knows, 70% of the surface of the earth is covered in water. And said water is not - as far as I know - carbonated.

So would it be fair to say that the earth is flat?

Salty would describe it better surely?

Carnyx · December 2021

rcs1000 said:
As everyone knows, 70% of the surface of the earth is covered in water. And said water is not - as far as I know - carbonated.

So would it be fair to say that the earth is flat?

Water tends to be level anyway, 'aerated' as the local lemonade factory of fond memory used to describe it, or not.

But then we get into the issue of oblate spheroids.

Edit: Used to be a really big thing, even on Unst, which is basically go north to Inverness and keep going twice each time you think you've come to the end, till you really do.

https://canmore.org.uk/site/203253/unst-baltasound-buness-memorial-stone

Stocky · December 2021

Re: header, I've been watching Smarkets "Conservative by-election double" market drift from the lowest point (I think) of 1.20 for CP to win both to the current 1.62.

I'm tempted to go in at 1.62.

eek · December 2021

rcs1000 said:
As everyone knows, 70% of the surface of the earth is covered in water. And said water is not - as far as I know - carbonated.

So would it be fair to say that the earth is flat?

As my daughter just pointed out the Seas / Oceans are a massive carbon sink, so they are in fact "carbonated".

DavidL · December 2021

rcs1000 said:
As everyone knows, 70% of the surface of the earth is covered in water.

And the remainder by Jonty Rhodes, back in the day.

FrancisUrquhart · December 2021

In Switzerland....new infections soared to 10,466 in the past 24 hours, reaching the peak of Switzerland’s deadly second wave this time last year. Zurich’s hospitals now report every bed is taken. Switzerland’s other cities are under similar pressure, with most ICU departments more than 80% occupied.

Denmark has reported a record number of new daily Covid infections.

JBriskin3 · December 2021

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.

I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters

FrancisUrquhart · December 2021

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has lashed out at African countries that have followed western countries in restricting travel to and from southern African states.

He said it was unfortunate, and that he would have preferred if they did not react like their former colonisers over the discovery of the new coronavirus variant Omicron.

turbotubbs · December 2021

rcs1000 said:
As everyone knows, 70% of the surface of the earth is covered in water. And said water is not - as far as I know - carbonated.

So would it be fair to say that the earth is flat?

Actually there is a degree of CO2 dissolved in all water - just not at the level needed for fizz...

isam · December 2021

Times Radio follow PMQs live and analyse each Q&A from the leaders. Quite interesting, they aren’t as down on Boris as Twitter and PB, the only two places I read or watch politics.

https://youtu.be/SPkioWKREDY

WhisperingOracle · December 2021

isam said:
Times Radio follow PMQs live and analyse each Q&A from the leaders. Quite interesting, they aren’t as down on Boris as Twitter and PB, the only two places I read or watch politics.

https://youtu.be/SPkioWKREDY

Murdoch himself hasn't entirely fallen out of love with Boris just yet, judging from the Times, Sunday Times, and Sun.

FrancisUrquhart · December 2021

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters

What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.

TOPPING · December 2021

isam said:
Times Radio follow PMQs live and analyse each Q&A from the leaders. Quite interesting, they aren’t as down on Boris as Twitter and PB, the only two places I read or watch politics.

https://youtu.be/SPkioWKREDY

Apart from Times Radio.

JBriskin3 · December 2021

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.

Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!

NerysHughes · December 2021

isam said:
Times Radio follow PMQs live and analyse each Q&A from the leaders. Quite interesting, they aren’t as down on Boris as Twitter and PB, the only two places I read or watch politics.

https://youtu.be/SPkioWKREDY

A week ago at PMQs no one had heard of the Omicron variant.

The last week has been dramatic in the pandemic with possible serious implications for the people of the UK with potential lockdowns etc.

So rather than ask the questions that the British public what to know answers to in regards to Omicron, SKS decides to ask if the PM had a party a year ago. Who is advising him???

ping · December 2021

turbotubbs said:

rcs1000 said:
As everyone knows, 70% of the surface of the earth is covered in water. And said water is not - as far as I know - carbonated.

So would it be fair to say that the earth is flat?
Actually there is a degree of CO2 dissolved in all water - just not at the level needed for fizz...

Except in a few interesting cases;

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limnic_eruption

If/when lake Kivu goes fizz, it’ll be nasty.

isam · December 2021

TOPPING said:

isam said:
Times Radio follow PMQs live and analyse each Q&A from the leaders. Quite interesting, they aren’t as down on Boris as Twitter and PB, the only two places I read or watch politics.

https://youtu.be/SPkioWKREDY
Apart from Times Radio.

I follow them on Twitter numb nuts!

TOPPING · December 2021

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!

Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!

TheScreamingEagles · December 2021

The Sun really is a hateful bigoted rag. Just look at the sneering, would I be allowed to sneer at poor people like this?

Also, Cambridge isn't full of toffs, but honest working class kids who have worked hard to get into the finest university in the world.

POSH students claim that their university experience is crumbling — because their college does not have a pastry chef.

Undergraduates at Cambridge University’s Corpus Christi College no longer get handmade artisan breakfasts after kitchen staff walked out.

Hungry toffs now slink off to other colleges for their morning grub as brekkie has been axed altogether. Food quality has also taken a battering, with horrified students confronted with cakes bought from shops.

The college — once home to Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville — has seen several catering staff leave, including a MasterChef quarter-finalist, in a conflict with management.

One student complained that it feels like a “loss of the Cambridge experience”.

A source said college management had “prioritised cost over quality” and “the freezers were stuffed”.

They added: “Fresh ingredients were replaced with bulk-bought food, cakes were shop-bought, and vegetables were pre-cut.”

Posh “formals” — black-tie gatherings — will also no longer take place at the college, founded in 1352.

Its kitchen was said to have become “one of the highest performing in Cambridge”.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/16901172/uni-students-experience-ruined-no-pastry-chef/

TOPPING · December 2021

Can't believe I missed the top 10 film discussion.

Late to the game so I'll save mine for the next time it comes round.

BlancheLivermore · December 2021

fpt

Nigelb said:
Macron has clearly been following @Scott_xP ...
https://twitter.com/anneapplebaum/status/1466002425626648584

You can't get the whole article without subscription, but someone in the comments there says the word gougnafier was used to describe Johnson.

Wiktionary tells me this is a good-for-nothing, ne'er-do-well or a boorish person.

I like it.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gougnafier

FrancisUrquhart · December 2021

Botswana today revealed that 85 per cent of its Omicron cases so far were asymptomatic

Alphabet_Soup · December 2021

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters

In my thrill-seeking youth I went to see Kasparov v Korchnoi at the Great Eastern Hotel. Paid £5 at the door, found a seat, settled down and waited for action. After two minutes the players stood up, shook hands and left the stage. I'm not one to bear a grudge for 40 years but Chess owes me five quid and one of these days I'll figure out a way to get it back.

isam · December 2021

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!
Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!

I tried to get on my ex bosses good side, he was a good chess player, by telling the joke about Kasparov taking half an hour to pass the salt in the cafe. The look of contempt was reflected in my poor pay rise & bonus

TOPPING · December 2021

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:
Times Radio follow PMQs live and analyse each Q&A from the leaders. Quite interesting, they aren’t as down on Boris as Twitter and PB, the only two places I read or watch politics.

https://youtu.be/SPkioWKREDY
Apart from Times Radio.
I follow them on Twitter numb nuts!

Interesting so when you say you only follow or read of politics on "Twitter" you actually follow or read politics on hundreds of places via Twitter. Unless it was the Twitter editorial line you were posting.

isam · December 2021

TOPPING said:

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:
Times Radio follow PMQs live and analyse each Q&A from the leaders. Quite interesting, they aren’t as down on Boris as Twitter and PB, the only two places I read or watch politics.

https://youtu.be/SPkioWKREDY
Apart from Times Radio.
I follow them on Twitter numb nuts!
Interesting so when you say you only follow or read of politics on "Twitter" you actually follow or read politics on hundreds of places via Twitter. Unless it was the Twitter editorial line you were posting.

…🙈

JBriskin3 · December 2021

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!
Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!

Rather poor form from Kasparov if it's true I'd say.

Re: the live chess

I'd go for NxB

Horseys are rubbish compared to Bishops.

TOPPING · December 2021

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!
Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!
Rather poor form from Kasparov if it's true I'd say.

Re: the live chess

I'd go for NxB

Horseys are rubbish compared to Bishops.

I was in a shop the other day which sells board games, and such like and there was "The Queen's Gambit [the Netflix show] - The Board Game".

Surely Queen's Gambit - The Board Game is..er..chess.

Nigelb · December 2021

TOPPING said:
Can't believe I missed the top 10 film discussion.

Late to the game so I'll save mine for the next time it comes round.

As did I.
Let's start it up again.

I don't really have a top ten, but...
Spirited Away
Casablanca
Vertigo
Dr Strangelove
Yojimbo
The Band Wagon
Memories of Murder
Apocalypse Now
All About Eve
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Would be entirely different tomorrow.

SirNorfolkPassmore · December 2021

It feels to me as if the bridge will hold for the Conservatives and I'm not sure 90% is massively mispriced.

Certainly, we're not in Hartlepool in May any more, or even Batley in July. But a 20%+ swing is a huge ask for Labour when the Conservatives are still doing okay in the polls, and this is a fairly Brexit-y seat. Possibly a turnout issue, possibly Tice stripping off some votes. But it's hard to see it being enough.

Lib Dems always find it easier to get the really big swings in this sort of situation - they come from nowhere, flood it, and feel both fresh and a safe way to protest. Labour are more reliant on Tories staying at home. Reading between the lines from the Labour candidate - and I know they play their cards close to their chest - his suggestion is a lot of Tories will sit it out but he's not seeing the switchers.

It also isn't clear to me that the Tory candidate is an obvious dud like Peter Fleet in Chesham, or that Labour have found a big local issue (although I may be wrong on that).

Reduced majority on low turnout has long looked the most likely outcome - hope I'm wrong, but there we are.

JBriskin3 · December 2021

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!
Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!
Rather poor form from Kasparov if it's true I'd say.

Re: the live chess

I'd go for NxB

Horseys are rubbish compared to Bishops.
I was in a shop the other day which sells board games, and such like and there was "The Queen's Gambit [the Netflix show] - The Board Game".

Surely Queen's Gambit - The Board Game is..er..chess.

I don't mean to be too pendantic (but it is PB after all) - but the Queen's gambit is an opening move within the game of chess rather than the game of chess itself

TOPPING · December 2021

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:
Times Radio follow PMQs live and analyse each Q&A from the leaders. Quite interesting, they aren’t as down on Boris as Twitter and PB, the only two places I read or watch politics.

https://youtu.be/SPkioWKREDY
Apart from Times Radio.
I follow them on Twitter numb nuts!
Interesting so when you say you only follow or read of politics on "Twitter" you actually follow or read politics on hundreds of places via Twitter. Unless it was the Twitter editorial line you were posting.
…🙈

Sam you said Times Radio "aren't as down on Boris as Twitter".

Sorry to be pedantic (what are we on PB if not pedantic). But it turns out that "Twitter" in this case was, er, Times Radio. So your "Twitter doesn't like Boris, but Times Radio does" is non-sensical.

Carnyx · December 2021

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!
Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!
Rather poor form from Kasparov if it's true I'd say.

Re: the live chess

I'd go for NxB

Horseys are rubbish compared to Bishops.

But they can fork 7 other pawns or pieces at the same time (or 8, but then the 8th would have had to move to the knight's previous position).

SandyRentool · December 2021

TheScreamingEagles said:
The Sun really is a hateful bigoted rag. Just look at the sneering, would I be allowed to sneer at poor people like this?

Also, Cambridge isn't full of toffs, but honest working class kids who have worked hard to get into the finest university in the world.

POSH students claim that their university experience is crumbling — because their college does not have a pastry chef.

Undergraduates at Cambridge University’s Corpus Christi College no longer get handmade artisan breakfasts after kitchen staff walked out.

Hungry toffs now slink off to other colleges for their morning grub as brekkie has been axed altogether. Food quality has also taken a battering, with horrified students confronted with cakes bought from shops.

The college — once home to Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville — has seen several catering staff leave, including a MasterChef quarter-finalist, in a conflict with management.

One student complained that it feels like a “loss of the Cambridge experience”.

A source said college management had “prioritised cost over quality” and “the freezers were stuffed”.

They added: “Fresh ingredients were replaced with bulk-bought food, cakes were shop-bought, and vegetables were pre-cut.”

Posh “formals” — black-tie gatherings — will also no longer take place at the college, founded in 1352.

Its kitchen was said to have become “one of the highest performing in Cambridge”.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/16901172/uni-students-experience-ruined-no-pastry-chef/

Are there no Greggs? Are there no Cafes?

TOPPING · December 2021

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!
Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!
Rather poor form from Kasparov if it's true I'd say.

Re: the live chess

I'd go for NxB

Horseys are rubbish compared to Bishops.
I was in a shop the other day which sells board games, and such like and there was "The Queen's Gambit [the Netflix show] - The Board Game".

Surely Queen's Gambit - The Board Game is..er..chess.
I don't mean to be too pendantic (but it is PB after all) - but the Queen's gambit is an opening move within the game of chess rather than the game of chess itself

Yes I appreciate that but you have a board game about "Queen's Gambit the Netflix series" which was about chess, chess and nothing but chess. Surely the only board game in anyone's right estimation should be....chess.

Farooq · December 2021

FrancisUrquhart said:
Botswana today revealed that 85 per cent of its Omicron cases so far were asymptomatic

How does that compare with Delta, etc?

state_go_away · December 2021

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!
Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!
Rather poor form from Kasparov if it's true I'd say.

Re: the live chess

I'd go for NxB

Horseys are rubbish compared to Bishops.

I think at the top or decent level bishops are better than knights . For ELOs below 1000 (mine alternates between 850-920) I think knights are slightly better given forking trap opportunities that sub 1000 players sometimes fall into

Nigelb · December 2021

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!
Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!
Rather poor form from Kasparov if it's true I'd say.

Re: the live chess

I'd go for NxB

Horseys are rubbish compared to Bishops.
I was in a shop the other day which sells board games, and such like and there was "The Queen's Gambit [the Netflix show] - The Board Game".

Surely Queen's Gambit - The Board Game is..er..chess.
I don't mean to be too pendantic (but it is PB after all) - but the Queen's gambit is an opening move within the game of chess rather than the game of chess itself

But here, it's the board game in the show Queen's Gambit.
If we're being pedantic.

JBriskin3 · December 2021

Carnyx said:

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!
Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!
Rather poor form from Kasparov if it's true I'd say.

Re: the live chess

I'd go for NxB

Horseys are rubbish compared to Bishops.
But they can fork 7 other pawns or pieces at the same time (or 8, but then the 8th would have had to move to the knight's previous position).

Took me a while to get what you were saying - I thought you were talking moves in the match.

Yeah, horseys are alright; but bishops are better.

JBriskin3 · December 2021

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!
Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!
Rather poor form from Kasparov if it's true I'd say.

Re: the live chess

I'd go for NxB

Horseys are rubbish compared to Bishops.
I was in a shop the other day which sells board games, and such like and there was "The Queen's Gambit [the Netflix show] - The Board Game".

Surely Queen's Gambit - The Board Game is..er..chess.
I don't mean to be too pendantic (but it is PB after all) - but the Queen's gambit is an opening move within the game of chess rather than the game of chess itself
Yes I appreciate that but you have a board game about "Queen's Gambit the Netflix series" which was about chess, chess and nothing but chess. Surely the only board game in anyone's right estimation should be....chess.

But what if you wanted to play the lesbo sex action before a major game card?

Stocky · December 2021

Nigelb said:

TOPPING said:
Can't believe I missed the top 10 film discussion.

Late to the game so I'll save mine for the next time it comes round.
As did I.
Let's start it up again.

I don't really have a top ten, but...
Spirited Away
Casablanca
Vertigo
Dr Strangelove
Yojimbo
The Band Wagon
Memories of Murder
Apocalypse Now
All About Eve
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Would be entirely different tomorrow.

Ghibli stuff but don't quite get the popularity of Spirited Away.

I much preferred My Neighbour Totoro (and Ponyo).

isam · December 2021

TOPPING said:

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:
Times Radio follow PMQs live and analyse each Q&A from the leaders. Quite interesting, they aren’t as down on Boris as Twitter and PB, the only two places I read or watch politics.

https://youtu.be/SPkioWKREDY
Apart from Times Radio.
I follow them on Twitter numb nuts!
Interesting so when you say you only follow or read of politics on "Twitter" you actually follow or read politics on hundreds of places via Twitter. Unless it was the Twitter editorial line you were posting.
…🙈
Sam you said Times Radio "aren't as down on Boris as Twitter".

Sorry to be pedantic (what are we on PB if not pedantic). But it turns out that "Twitter" in this case was, er, Times Radio. So your "Twitter doesn't like Boris, but Times Radio does" is non-sensical.

Yes, I am not in the mood for the kind of pedantic, borderline doctor referral lunacy that could potentially drag on for hours, but I meant "twitter" to mean people who tweet all day, ranting to themselves about politics; generally Boris hating Remainers. Today I watched the Times Radio programme on PMQs for the first time, so I don't generally get my politics from them, although do follow them on twitter

TheScreamingEagles · December 2021

Talking of pedantry, I know I have quite a few fellow grammarians on PB and I need your assistance.

So what's the plural of task force? I wrote task forces and it seemed just wrong, is it like attorneys general and thus tasks force?

Nigelb · December 2021

TheScreamingEagles said:
Talking of pedantry, I know I have quite a few fellow grammarians on PB and I need your assistance.

So what's the plural of task force? I wrote task forces and it seemed just wrong, is it like attorneys general and thus tasks force?

A tasks force would be something very different from a task force.
Task forces is correct, I think.

(And it is definitely not like attorneys general.)

Carnyx · December 2021

TheScreamingEagles said:
Talking of pedantry, I know I have quite a few fellow grammarians on PB and I need your assistance.

So what's the plural of task force? I wrote task forces and it seemed just wrong, is it like attorneys general and thus tasks force?

Task forces is right; force is the noun, task is an adjectival noun. In Attorny general it is attorney which is the noun and general the adjective.

No_Offence_Alan · December 2021

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!
Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!
Rather poor form from Kasparov if it's true I'd say.

Re: the live chess

I'd go for NxB

Horseys are rubbish compared to Bishops.

No, Bishops are confined to just the one colour of square. Knights can use squares of both colours.

Monkeys · December 2021

Stocky said:

Nigelb said:

TOPPING said:
Can't believe I missed the top 10 film discussion.

Late to the game so I'll save mine for the next time it comes round.
As did I.
Let's start it up again.

I don't really have a top ten, but...
Spirited Away
Casablanca
Vertigo
Dr Strangelove
Yojimbo
The Band Wagon
Memories of Murder
Apocalypse Now
All About Eve
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Would be entirely different tomorrow.
Ghibli stuff but don't quite get the popularity of Spirited Away.

I much preferred My Neighbour Totoro (and Ponyo).

My preferred Ghibli is The Tale of the Princess Kaguya which I recommend to ALL.

That's a good Top Ten.

Carnyx · December 2021

TheScreamingEagles said:
Talking of pedantry, I know I have quite a few fellow grammarians on PB and I need your assistance.

So what's the plural of task force? I wrote task forces and it seemed just wrong, is it like attorneys general and thus tasks force?

PS The USN invented the term and their plural is task forces, eg.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=04n4_4v5gQMC&q="task+forces"+usn&dq="task+forces"+usn&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&redir_esc=y

isam · December 2021

Nigelb said:

TOPPING said:
Can't believe I missed the top 10 film discussion.

Late to the game so I'll save mine for the next time it comes round.
As did I.
Let's start it up again.

I don't really have a top ten, but...
Spirited Away
Casablanca
Vertigo
Dr Strangelove
Yojimbo
The Band Wagon
Memories of Murder
Apocalypse Now
All About Eve
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Would be entirely different tomorrow.

Something About Mary
Cool Hand Luke
Hombre
The Sting
The Godfather
The Godfather ptII
Waynes World
Carry On Abroad
The Lives of Others
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest

Nigelb · December 2021

Stocky said:

Nigelb said:

TOPPING said:
Can't believe I missed the top 10 film discussion.

Late to the game so I'll save mine for the next time it comes round.
As did I.
Let's start it up again.

I don't really have a top ten, but...
Spirited Away
Casablanca
Vertigo
Dr Strangelove
Yojimbo
The Band Wagon
Memories of Murder
Apocalypse Now
All About Eve
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Would be entirely different tomorrow.
Ghibli stuff but don't quite get the popularity of Spirited Away.

I much preferred My Neighbour Totoro (and Ponyo).

Each to their own.
Another list might contain another of his movies, but Spirited Away is simply superb.

JBriskin3 · December 2021

No_Offence_Alan said:

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!
Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!
Rather poor form from Kasparov if it's true I'd say.

Re: the live chess

I'd go for NxB

Horseys are rubbish compared to Bishops.
No, Bishops are confined to just the one colour of square. Knights can use squares of both colours.

Unless you're making some kind of silly in-joke you could say the same about pawns.

Stocky · December 2021

Nigelb said:

TOPPING said:
Can't believe I missed the top 10 film discussion.

Late to the game so I'll save mine for the next time it comes round.
As did I.
Let's start it up again.

I don't really have a top ten, but...
Spirited Away
Casablanca
Vertigo
Dr Strangelove
Yojimbo
The Band Wagon
Memories of Murder
Apocalypse Now
All About Eve
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Would be entirely different tomorrow.

Mine changes too.

On the spur, I'd include these:

No Country For Old Men
Mad Max Fury Road
There Will Be Blood
Fargo
Magnolia
Blue Ruin
The Battle of Algiers
Taxi Driver

Anabobazina · December 2021

@sailorrooscout
An official speaking on behalf of the World Health Organization has said most Omicron cases are 'mild' and there's no evidence to suggest vaccines may be less effective against the variant but did say some mutations of the virus indicate an increased risk of quicker transmission.

Stocky · December 2021

Nigelb said:

Stocky said:

Nigelb said:

TOPPING said:
Can't believe I missed the top 10 film discussion.

Late to the game so I'll save mine for the next time it comes round.
As did I.
Let's start it up again.

I don't really have a top ten, but...
Spirited Away
Casablanca
Vertigo
Dr Strangelove
Yojimbo
The Band Wagon
Memories of Murder
Apocalypse Now
All About Eve
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Would be entirely different tomorrow.
Ghibli stuff but don't quite get the popularity of Spirited Away.

I much preferred My Neighbour Totoro (and Ponyo).
Each to their own.
Another list might contain another of his movies, but Spirited Away is simply superb.

I'll re-watch it.

You seen My Neighbour Totoro? It may be the environmentalist slant that gets me

state_go_away · December 2021

my top 10 films

Local Hero
Shooting Fish
Where Eagles Dare
Breakfast on Pluto
The Sting
Casino
Glengarry Glen Ross
Meet the Parents
Rita Sue and Bob Too
The imitation game

A right mix of stuff !

Anabobazina · December 2021

h ago
13:08
A top official in Botswana’s health ministry said on Tuesday that 16 out of the total 19 cases of the Omicron variant detected in the country were asymptomatic, and said it was unfair to treat the country as ground zero of the new variant.

Pamela Smith-Lawrence, acting director of health in the ministry of health and wellness, told Reuters in an interview that the majority of the 19 people who were found to be infected with the new Omicron variant have already tested negative.

While 16 people were asymptomatic, the remaining two had “very, very mild” symptoms.

TheScreamingEagles · December 2021

Nigelb said:

TheScreamingEagles said:
Talking of pedantry, I know I have quite a few fellow grammarians on PB and I need your assistance.

So what's the plural of task force? I wrote task forces and it seemed just wrong, is it like attorneys general and thus tasks force?
A tasks force would be something very different from a task force.
Task forces is correct, I think.

(And it is definitely not like attorneys general.)

Carnyx said:

TheScreamingEagles said:
Talking of pedantry, I know I have quite a few fellow grammarians on PB and I need your assistance.

So what's the plural of task force? I wrote task forces and it seemed just wrong, is it like attorneys general and thus tasks force?
Task forces is right; force is the noun, task is an adjectival noun. In Attorny general it is attorney which is the noun and general the adjective.

Cheers both, it just looked wrong when I typed it on screen.

JBriskin3 · December 2021

I like my films too much to bother with the stress of a top ten.

But if I was to do one I often ponder whether Bad Teacher would make it to it.

Stocky · December 2021

state_go_away said:
my top 10 films

Local Hero
Shooting Fish
Where Eagles Dare
Breakfast on Pluto
The Sting
Casino
Glengarry Glen Ross
Meet the Parents
Rita Sue and Bob Too
The imitation game

A right mix of stuff !

Rita, Sue and Bob too! I remember that: "We're having a gangbang!"

TOPPING · December 2021

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:
Times Radio follow PMQs live and analyse each Q&A from the leaders. Quite interesting, they aren’t as down on Boris as Twitter and PB, the only two places I read or watch politics.

https://youtu.be/SPkioWKREDY
Apart from Times Radio.
I follow them on Twitter numb nuts!
Interesting so when you say you only follow or read of politics on "Twitter" you actually follow or read politics on hundreds of places via Twitter. Unless it was the Twitter editorial line you were posting.
…🙈
Sam you said Times Radio "aren't as down on Boris as Twitter".

Sorry to be pedantic (what are we on PB if not pedantic). But it turns out that "Twitter" in this case was, er, Times Radio. So your "Twitter doesn't like Boris, but Times Radio does" is non-sensical.
Yes, I am not in the mood for the kind of pedantic, borderline doctor referral lunacy that could potentially drag on for hours, but I meant "twitter" to mean people who tweet all day, ranting to themselves about politics; generally Boris hating Remainers. Today I watched the Times Radio programme on PMQs for the first time, so I don't generally get my politics from them, although do follow them on twitter

Well you by your own post were wrong. Because by "Twitter" you meant Times Radio.

You follow them on Twitter.

Hence your "aren't as down as Boris as Twitter" was wrong.

And also your "not in the mood for the kind of pedantic, borderline doctor referral lunacy" comment is far, far more indicative of what's going inside your head rather than anyone else's.

Stocky · December 2021

isam said:

Nigelb said:

TOPPING said:
Can't believe I missed the top 10 film discussion.

Late to the game so I'll save mine for the next time it comes round.
As did I.
Let's start it up again.

I don't really have a top ten, but...
Spirited Away
Casablanca
Vertigo
Dr Strangelove
Yojimbo
The Band Wagon
Memories of Murder
Apocalypse Now
All About Eve
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Would be entirely different tomorrow.
Something About Mary
Cool Hand Luke
Hombre
The Sting
The Godfather
The Godfather ptII
Waynes World
Carry On Abroad
The Lives of Others
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest

You put a Carry On film in your ten best?!

isam · December 2021

November has finished, so here are the Leader Ratings as we stand

Both leaders are less popular than at the end of Oct, although Boris has taken a far greater hit than Sir Keir, who is basically where he was

Boris leads by 4.7pts on Gross positives, down from 8.5 in Oct

Sir Keir leads by 6.5 on Net Satisfaction, having trailed by 3.9pts. He has improved by 0.8pts in NS over the last 2 months, and stayed the same GP

I'd say the Cons still have the edge but obviously not by as far as previously. What a
startling insight!

Opinium are a humongous outlier/Gospel depending on your POV

TheScreamingEagles · December 2021

Stocky said:

state_go_away said:
my top 10 films

Local Hero
Shooting Fish
Where Eagles Dare
Breakfast on Pluto
The Sting
Casino
Glengarry Glen Ross
Meet the Parents
Rita Sue and Bob Too
The imitation game

A right mix of stuff !

Rita, Sue and Bob too! I remember that: "We're having a gangbang!"

Please, this is a family friendly website, and we'll have none of your filth here.

isam · December 2021

TOPPING said:

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:
Times Radio follow PMQs live and analyse each Q&A from the leaders. Quite interesting, they aren’t as down on Boris as Twitter and PB, the only two places I read or watch politics.

https://youtu.be/SPkioWKREDY
Apart from Times Radio.
I follow them on Twitter numb nuts!
Interesting so when you say you only follow or read of politics on "Twitter" you actually follow or read politics on hundreds of places via Twitter. Unless it was the Twitter editorial line you were posting.
…🙈
Sam you said Times Radio "aren't as down on Boris as Twitter".

Sorry to be pedantic (what are we on PB if not pedantic). But it turns out that "Twitter" in this case was, er, Times Radio. So your "Twitter doesn't like Boris, but Times Radio does" is non-sensical.
Yes, I am not in the mood for the kind of pedantic, borderline doctor referral lunacy that could potentially drag on for hours, but I meant "twitter" to mean people who tweet all day, ranting to themselves about politics; generally Boris hating Remainers. Today I watched the Times Radio programme on PMQs for the first time, so I don't generally get my politics from them, although do follow them on twitter
Well you by your own post were wrong. Because by "Twitter" you meant Times Radio.

You follow them on Twitter.

Hence your "aren't as down as Boris as Twitter" was wrong.

And also your "not in the mood for the kind of pedantic, borderline doctor referral lunacy" comment is far, far more indicative of what's going in in your head rather than anyone else's.

Good Lord, how can you be bothered?

WhisperingOracle · December 2021

Stocky said:

isam said:

Nigelb said:

TOPPING said:
Can't believe I missed the top 10 film discussion.

Late to the game so I'll save mine for the next time it comes round.
As did I.
Let's start it up again.

I don't really have a top ten, but...
Spirited Away
Casablanca
Vertigo
Dr Strangelove
Yojimbo
The Band Wagon
Memories of Murder
Apocalypse Now
All About Eve
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Would be entirely different tomorrow.
Something About Mary
Cool Hand Luke
Hombre
The Sting
The Godfather
The Godfather ptII
Waynes World
Carry On Abroad
The Lives of Others
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest
You put a Carry On film in your ten best?!

Carry On Loving is a surprisingly good film. A sort of timepiece of older Britain meeting Swinging London in 1969, when it was filmed. All the films afterwards are more obviously bawdy, and all the films before are more obviously coy. The exact moment at which a lot of things were changing for the majority.

TheScreamingEagles · December 2021

WhisperingOracle said:

Stocky said:

isam said:

Nigelb said:

TOPPING said:
Can't believe I missed the top 10 film discussion.

Late to the game so I'll save mine for the next time it comes round.
As did I.
Let's start it up again.

I don't really have a top ten, but...
Spirited Away
Casablanca
Vertigo
Dr Strangelove
Yojimbo
The Band Wagon
Memories of Murder
Apocalypse Now
All About Eve
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Would be entirely different tomorrow.
Something About Mary
Cool Hand Luke
Hombre
The Sting
The Godfather
The Godfather ptII
Waynes World
Carry On Abroad
The Lives of Others
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest
You put a Carry On film in your ten best?!
Carry On Loving is a surprisingly good film. A sort of timepiece of older Britain meeting Swinging London in 1969, when it was filmed. All the films after are more obviously bawdy, and all their films before are more obviously coy. The exact moment at which a lot of things were changing for the majority.

Carry On Don't Lose Your Head is a personal favourite of mine.

TOPPING · December 2021

Mine (today) and likewise off the top of my head:

Donnie Darko
Spirited Away
L&D of Colonel Blimp
Pulp Fiction
Trois Couleurs (the trilogy)
The Birds
War Requiem
Citizen Kane
The Rock
Death in Venice

bigjohnowls · December 2021

TheScreamingEagles said:
The Sun really is a hateful bigoted rag

Which SKS is cosying up to and writing in.

Nigel_Foremain · December 2021

SandyRentool said:

TheScreamingEagles said:
The Sun really is a hateful bigoted rag. Just look at the sneering, would I be allowed to sneer at poor people like this?

Also, Cambridge isn't full of toffs, but honest working class kids who have worked hard to get into the finest university in the world.

POSH students claim that their university experience is crumbling — because their college does not have a pastry chef.

Undergraduates at Cambridge University’s Corpus Christi College no longer get handmade artisan breakfasts after kitchen staff walked out.

Hungry toffs now slink off to other colleges for their morning grub as brekkie has been axed altogether. Food quality has also taken a battering, with horrified students confronted with cakes bought from shops.

The college — once home to Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville — has seen several catering staff leave, including a MasterChef quarter-finalist, in a conflict with management.

One student complained that it feels like a “loss of the Cambridge experience”.

A source said college management had “prioritised cost over quality” and “the freezers were stuffed”.

They added: “Fresh ingredients were replaced with bulk-bought food, cakes were shop-bought, and vegetables were pre-cut.”

Posh “formals” — black-tie gatherings — will also no longer take place at the college, founded in 1352.

Its kitchen was said to have become “one of the highest performing in Cambridge”.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/16901172/uni-students-experience-ruined-no-pastry-chef/
Are there no Greggs? Are there no Cafes?

Let them eat bread

TOPPING · December 2021

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:

TOPPING said:

isam said:
Times Radio follow PMQs live and analyse each Q&A from the leaders. Quite interesting, they aren’t as down on Boris as Twitter and PB, the only two places I read or watch politics.

https://youtu.be/SPkioWKREDY
Apart from Times Radio.
I follow them on Twitter numb nuts!
Interesting so when you say you only follow or read of politics on "Twitter" you actually follow or read politics on hundreds of places via Twitter. Unless it was the Twitter editorial line you were posting.
…🙈
Sam you said Times Radio "aren't as down on Boris as Twitter".

Sorry to be pedantic (what are we on PB if not pedantic). But it turns out that "Twitter" in this case was, er, Times Radio. So your "Twitter doesn't like Boris, but Times Radio does" is non-sensical.
Yes, I am not in the mood for the kind of pedantic, borderline doctor referral lunacy that could potentially drag on for hours, but I meant "twitter" to mean people who tweet all day, ranting to themselves about politics; generally Boris hating Remainers. Today I watched the Times Radio programme on PMQs for the first time, so I don't generally get my politics from them, although do follow them on twitter
Well you by your own post were wrong. Because by "Twitter" you meant Times Radio.

You follow them on Twitter.

Hence your "aren't as down as Boris as Twitter" was wrong.

And also your "not in the mood for the kind of pedantic, borderline doctor referral lunacy" comment is far, far more indicative of what's going in in your head rather than anyone else's.
Good Lord, how can you be bothered?

Thank you.

Alphabet_Soup · December 2021

TheScreamingEagles said:
Talking of pedantry, I know I have quite a few fellow grammarians on PB and I need your assistance.

So what's the plural of task force? I wrote task forces and it seemed just wrong, is it like attorneys general and thus tasks force?

You pluralise the noun not the adjective. So task forces is correct. Invoice in the post.

JBriskin3 · December 2021

#chess

Could a bishop sacrifice on the h6 pay off?

Nigel_Foremain · December 2021

bigjohnowls said:

TheScreamingEagles said:
The Sun really is a hateful bigoted rag
Which SKS is cosying up to and writing in.

It worked for Tony Blair

TheScreamingEagles · December 2021

My top ten (but this often changes)

1) The Wrath of Khan
2) The Usual Suspects
3) To Kill A Mockingbird
4) Avengers: Endgame
5) The LOTR Trilogy (as I consider that one film)
6) Aliens
7) The Godfather I or The Godfather II
8) The Shawshank Redemption
9) The Dollars Trilogy (like LOTR I consider that one film)
10) Love Actually

And I also need to add Metropolis to the list.

JBriskin3 · December 2021

JBriskin3 said:
#chess

Could a bishop sacrifice on the h6 pay off?

No - sorry was trying to think outside the box.

Still, less boring than a test match.

No_Offence_Alan · December 2021

JBriskin3 said:

No_Offence_Alan said:

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!
Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!
Rather poor form from Kasparov if it's true I'd say.

Re: the live chess

I'd go for NxB

Horseys are rubbish compared to Bishops.
No, Bishops are confined to just the one colour of square. Knights can use squares of both colours.
Unless you're making some kind of silly in-joke you could say the same about pawns.

In a N v B endgame, with equal pawns on either side, I would rather have the N.

Nigelb · December 2021

Stocky said:

Nigelb said:

Stocky said:

Nigelb said:

TOPPING said:
Can't believe I missed the top 10 film discussion.

Late to the game so I'll save mine for the next time it comes round.
As did I.
Let's start it up again.

I don't really have a top ten, but...
Spirited Away
Casablanca
Vertigo
Dr Strangelove
Yojimbo
The Band Wagon
Memories of Murder
Apocalypse Now
All About Eve
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Would be entirely different tomorrow.
Ghibli stuff but don't quite get the popularity of Spirited Away.

I much preferred My Neighbour Totoro (and Ponyo).
Each to their own.
Another list might contain another of his movies, but Spirited Away is simply superb.
I'll re-watch it.

You seen My Neighbour Totoro? It may be the environmentalist slant that gets me

Yes, I love pretty well all of Miyazaki's stuff.
And Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies would make my top ten list in another day.

Flatlander · December 2021

JBriskin3 said:
#chess

Could a bishop sacrifice on the h6 pay off?

No. This is a dead draw but just the kind of stone that Carlsen likes to get blood out of.

TheScreamingEagles · December 2021

bigjohnowls said:

TheScreamingEagles said:
The Sun really is a hateful bigoted rag
Which SKS is cosying up to and writing in.

Well Corbyn's a reader.

https://twitter.com/MichaelPDeacon/status/659283863458443264

And I think you said you'd prefer Burnham to replace Starmer.

JBriskin3 · December 2021

No_Offence_Alan said:

JBriskin3 said:

No_Offence_Alan said:

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!
Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!
Rather poor form from Kasparov if it's true I'd say.

Re: the live chess

I'd go for NxB

Horseys are rubbish compared to Bishops.
No, Bishops are confined to just the one colour of square. Knights can use squares of both colours.
Unless you're making some kind of silly in-joke you could say the same about pawns.
In a N v B endgame, with equal pawns on either side, I would rather have the N.

I'm pretty crap at chess although I was second best chess player at my rather small primary school.

Given that - for what it's worth - I'd rather have the bishop.

isam · December 2021

isam said:
November has finished, so here are the Leader Ratings as we stand

Both leaders are less popular than at the end of Oct, although Boris has taken a far greater hit than Sir Keir, who is basically where he was

Boris leads by 4.7pts on Gross positives, down from 8.5 in Oct

Sir Keir leads by 6.5 on Net Satisfaction, having trailed by 3.9pts. He has improved by 0.8pts in NS over the last 2 months, and stayed the same GP

I'd say the Cons still have the edge but obviously not by as far as previously. What a
startling insight!

Opinium are a humongous outlier/Gospel depending on your POV

Look at the Net Sat scores from the pollsters

Opinium -17 +1
J&L -21 -16
R&W -12 -10
IPSOS -27 -21
ComRes -14 -9
YouGov -35 -32

So the leads for Sir Keir are

18
5
2
6
5
3

Yet the firm who find 18 are the only ones ever used in Thread Headers talking about Leader Ratings, with no mention that they are an outlier of epic proportions. Usually massive outliers are highlighted as such, and we are told to be wary. But not when it comes to Opinium's leader ratings

NerysHughes · December 2021

At my local Tesco's in Bursledon there is a major police incident, it looks like someone had driven at people causing many injuries, whole area sealed off.

Nigel_Foremain · December 2021

TheScreamingEagles said:

bigjohnowls said:

TheScreamingEagles said:
The Sun really is a hateful bigoted rag
Which SKS is cosying up to and writing in.
Well Corbyn's a reader.

https://twitter.com/MichaelPDeacon/status/659283863458443264

And I think you said you'd prefer Burnham to replace Starmer.

I'd have thought it a bit high brow for Mr. Thicky.

WhisperingOracle · December 2021

TheScreamingEagles said:

WhisperingOracle said:

Stocky said:

isam said:

Nigelb said:

TOPPING said:
Can't believe I missed the top 10 film discussion.

Late to the game so I'll save mine for the next time it comes round.
As did I.
Let's start it up again.

I don't really have a top ten, but...
Spirited Away
Casablanca
Vertigo
Dr Strangelove
Yojimbo
The Band Wagon
Memories of Murder
Apocalypse Now
All About Eve
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Would be entirely different tomorrow.
Something About Mary
Cool Hand Luke
Hombre
The Sting
The Godfather
The Godfather ptII
Waynes World
Carry On Abroad
The Lives of Others
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest
You put a Carry On film in your ten best?!
Carry On Loving is a surprisingly good film. A sort of timepiece of older Britain meeting Swinging London in 1969, when it was filmed. All the films after are more obviously bawdy, and all their films before are more obviously coy. The exact moment at which a lot of things were changing for the majority.
Carry On Don't Lose Your Head is a personal favourite of mine.

Yes, I remember that as a good one too.

There's a striking scene in Carry On Loving, where you see the exact moment the older social and generational order is crumbling down. The two "swinging" younger characters, one of whom is actually a middle-aged Terry Jones, are marooned in a Victorian-like atmosphere in a drawing room, where the extended older 'family' are having tea, stock-still like statues. Needless to say it ends in chaos and the action soon turns to Terry and the miniskirted heroine.

There's nothing like the head-on social clash in any of the other films - the 70's films get gradually more and more lewd and relaxed.

geoffw · December 2021

Repeated check. Draw

Aslan · December 2021

Top 10 movies:

Bladerunner 2049
The Godfather (Parts I and II)
The Shawshank Redemption
The Constant Gardener
The Road
Fight Club
Aliens
Apocalypse Now!
Pulp Fiction
Road to Perdition

Nigelb · December 2021

TheScreamingEagles said:

Nigelb said:

TheScreamingEagles said:
Talking of pedantry, I know I have quite a few fellow grammarians on PB and I need your assistance.

So what's the plural of task force? I wrote task forces and it seemed just wrong, is it like attorneys general and thus tasks force?
A tasks force would be something very different from a task force.
Task forces is correct, I think.

(And it is definitely not like attorneys general.)

Carnyx said:

TheScreamingEagles said:
Talking of pedantry, I know I have quite a few fellow grammarians on PB and I need your assistance.

So what's the plural of task force? I wrote task forces and it seemed just wrong, is it like attorneys general and thus tasks force?
Task forces is right; force is the noun, task is an adjectival noun. In Attorny general it is attorney which is the noun and general the adjective.
Cheers both, it just looked wrong when I typed it on screen.

Happens to me all the time.
English is clearly designed to be like that to confound foreigners.

Attorney generals is also grammatically correct, of course, but just means something else.

Carnyx · December 2021

Nigelb said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Nigelb said:

TheScreamingEagles said:
Talking of pedantry, I know I have quite a few fellow grammarians on PB and I need your assistance.

So what's the plural of task force? I wrote task forces and it seemed just wrong, is it like attorneys general and thus tasks force?
A tasks force would be something very different from a task force.
Task forces is correct, I think.

(And it is definitely not like attorneys general.)

Carnyx said:

TheScreamingEagles said:
Talking of pedantry, I know I have quite a few fellow grammarians on PB and I need your assistance.

So what's the plural of task force? I wrote task forces and it seemed just wrong, is it like attorneys general and thus tasks force?
Task forces is right; force is the noun, task is an adjectival noun. In Attorny general it is attorney which is the noun and general the adjective.
Cheers both, it just looked wrong when I typed it on screen.
Happens to me all the time.
English is clearly designed to be like that to confound foreigners.

And our successors:

https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Canticle_For_Leibowitz/4RCkBQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=leibowitz+dog+house&pg=PT22&printsec=frontcover

Fysics_Teacher · December 2021

Stocky said:

isam said:

Nigelb said:

TOPPING said:
Can't believe I missed the top 10 film discussion.

Late to the game so I'll save mine for the next time it comes round.
As did I.
Let's start it up again.

I don't really have a top ten, but...
Spirited Away
Casablanca
Vertigo
Dr Strangelove
Yojimbo
The Band Wagon
Memories of Murder
Apocalypse Now
All About Eve
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Would be entirely different tomorrow.
Something About Mary
Cool Hand Luke
Hombre
The Sting
The Godfather
The Godfather ptII
Waynes World
Carry On Abroad
The Lives of Others
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest
You put a Carry On film in your ten best?!

Carry On Abroad is even the best Carry On film (that honour goes to Carry On Cleo: “Infamy, infamy, they’ve all got it in for me”).

Flatlander · December 2021

Flatlander said:

JBriskin3 said:
#chess

Could a bishop sacrifice on the h6 pay off?
No. This is a dead draw but just the kind of stone that Carlsen likes to get blood out of.

Obviously couldn't be bothered today...

Is Magnus playing for a penalty shootout again? He's better at blitz.

algarkirk · December 2021

TheScreamingEagles said:
Talking of pedantry, I know I have quite a few fellow grammarians on PB and I need your assistance.

So what's the plural of task force? I wrote task forces and it seemed just wrong, is it like attorneys general and thus tasks force?

It depends. If your are doubling up on tasks it is tasks force, if ditto on forces its task forces, if its both its tasks forces.

Just as stopgap can have the plural stopsgaps.

rottenborough · December 2021

von der Leyen: "one-third of the European population is not vaccinated. These are 150 million people."

Gonna be an awful winter across the channel.

SandyRentool · December 2021

No_Offence_Alan said:

JBriskin3 said:

TOPPING said:

JBriskin3 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

JBriskin3 said:

Pulpstar said:
Looks like a bit of an inaccuracy by Magnus. But he's not playing stockfish.
I love the fact that along with Cricket et al, PBers are confident enough to dabble in a bit of Chess comentary of a match between two grandmasters
What can you say, PBers are a very talented bunch.
Indeed - I'd love to claim a draw against Kasparov on my CV!
Wasn't there a story that Kasparov was playing a simultaneous match and he offered one of the players a draw, which the player accepted. And then Kasparov gave the player a bollocking saying you are playing in a once in a lifetime match and you aren't getting beaten roundly and you decide to stop it early and settle for a draw....!
Rather poor form from Kasparov if it's true I'd say.

Re: the live chess

I'd go for NxB

Horseys are rubbish compared to Bishops.
No, Bishops are confined to just the one colour of square. Knights can use squares of both colours.

There's no need to bash the bishop.

algarkirk · December 2021

Nigelb said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Nigelb said:

TheScreamingEagles said:
Talking of pedantry, I know I have quite a few fellow grammarians on PB and I need your assistance.

So what's the plural of task force? I wrote task forces and it seemed just wrong, is it like attorneys general and thus tasks force?
A tasks force would be something very different from a task force.
Task forces is correct, I think.

(And it is definitely not like attorneys general.)

Carnyx said:

TheScreamingEagles said:
Talking of pedantry, I know I have quite a few fellow grammarians on PB and I need your assistance.

So what's the plural of task force? I wrote task forces and it seemed just wrong, is it like attorneys general and thus tasks force?
Task forces is right; force is the noun, task is an adjectival noun. In Attorny general it is attorney which is the noun and general the adjective.
Cheers both, it just looked wrong when I typed it on screen.
Happens to me all the time.
English is clearly designed to be like that to confound foreigners.

Attorney generals is also grammatically correct, of course, but just means something else.

It is attorneys general, for the same reason you wouldn't say generals attorney.

It's amazing anyone wants to or manages to learn this absurd language.

isam · December 2021

rottenborough said:
von der Leyen: "one-third of the European population is not vaccinated. These are 150 million people."

Gonna be an awful winter across the channel.

Does she just mean EU citizens, or are we included?

JosiasJessop · December 2021

TheScreamingEagles said:
My top ten (but this often changes)

1) The Wrath of Khan
2) The Usual Suspects
3) To Kill A Mockingbird
4) Avengers: Endgame
5) The LOTR Trilogy (as I consider that one film)
6) Aliens
7) The Godfather I or The Godfather II
8) The Shawshank Redemption
9) The Dollars Trilogy (like LOTR I consider that one film)
10) Love Actually

And I also need to add Metropolis to the list.

1) Highlander 2 (sequels are *always* better)
2) The Human Centipede
3) Superman IV
4) Star Wars: the Phantom Menace
5) Cats
6) Speed 2 (again, sequels are always better)
7) The Blair Witch Project 2 (ditto)
8) American Pie Reunion
9) Police Academy (films 3-x - they're all brilliant and just get better!)
10) Star Trek V (or for the revisioned films, Star Trek Into Darkness)

An honourable mention to Mon Oncle.

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