Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 3]
Discussion
Einion Yrth said:
What prevents you paying a peppercorn rent?
Nothing whatsoever. Equally, nothing stops you leaving yourself groaning under the ever-escalating rent increases you may choose to impose on yourself. However, whichever option you choose, neither addresses the fundamental problem - namely that the agreement is a sham and you are in truth neither landlord nor tenant.
Let's put it this way. If the original suggestion was a runner, it would be possible to rent your own house back to yourself and claim landlords' tax relief against the "income". I am pretty sure that wouldn't go down particularly well with HMRC.
Roofless Toothless said:
The only reason I can think of is that the people who run the tournament think that they will be financially damaged if interest in it wanes due to the big guns getting beaten early on. I can't believe how tennis fans put up with such a rigged system.
Sadly, I think you're dead right. They know for a fact that a Federer / Nadal final (or one or two other combinations) will get the best ratings, and so have the best sponsor value, and they set everything up to try to make that happen.
The personal sponsors who give the big bucks to the Big 4 also want to make as sure as possible that their big money logos make it to the final and don't get halved in a first round head-to-head that only one of them can win.
No, it's not fair. Not even nearly.
The football World Cup first round draw is similar, spreading the best teams around so they don't all clash too early.
Dr Jekyll said:
Why is the word 'iconic' overused all of a sudden? At least on TV people refer to 'the iconic whatever' when they should say 'the familiar whatever'.
I hate that too. Every new civil engineering project is described as "this will be an iconic such-and-such"; no it f
king won't, not until a certain amount of time has passed. I'll bet Messrs. Arrol, Fowler and Baker weren't issuing press releases about the Forth Bridge being 'iconic'.SpeckledJim said:
talksthetorque said:
But if you are going to win then you have to beat the top seeds.
not if the top seeds have already beaten each other. but the structure stops that happening.RizzoTheRat said:
Are there any other sports that do a handicap system like this?
Another to add to the list is (competitive) tenpin bowling which has a similar h'cap system to golf. You take a percentage of the difference between your average actual (scratch) single game score and a chosen reference score. Common formulae are things like 75% of 220, 66% of 210 depending on the general level of ability of the competitors and a few more subtleties. Your handicap is added to your scratch score each game to give your handicap score. Handicaps are usually calculated over a minimum number of games at a particular competitive level during that season to avoid banditry. Those reference scores are set as they are because once you are consistently averaging over 200 scratch across a season you are pretty competitive in amateur events.
At 'club' level (local leagues, smaller tournaments) most competition is h'cap in some way, often in parallel with scratch scoring, usually because it is a often a team sport and it helps balance the teams much the same as in golf. Once you get into regional/county leagues and tournaments and higher level everything is pretty much scratch and most events are singles.
Ayahuasca said:
What happened to the 'Black Tie & Pie' events?
Just a guess (never been to one) but I'd imagine the majority of sane and functioning adults would get an hour into their first one before having a moment of horrifying clarity, and so at that rate of attrition you burn through your pool of 'try anything once' bravehearts pretty quickly.Also, this place is not what it was. It used to be friendly.
SpeckledJim said:
Ayahuasca said:
What happened to the 'Black Tie & Pie' events?
Just a guess (never been to one) but I'd imagine the majority of sane and functioning adults would get an hour into their first one before having a moment of horrifying clarity, and so at that rate of attrition you burn through your pool of 'try anything once' bravehearts pretty quickly.Also, this place is not what it was. It used to be friendly.
Dr Jekyll said:
Does anyone make an instant porridge containing caffeine? It would save time on a cold morning.
I have considered stirring Nescafe into my porridge but suspect it would taste odd.
1) make porridge and eat itI have considered stirring Nescafe into my porridge but suspect it would taste odd.
2) stir a couple of heaped teaspoons of Nescafe into a little COLD water and knock it back in one swallow
job jobbed.
Or 3)
Forget the porridge and whizz a couple of tablespoons of butter into your coffee.
Dr Jekyll said:
Does anyone make an instant porridge containing caffeine? It would save time on a cold morning.
I have considered stirring Nescafe into my porridge but suspect it would taste odd.
If it's that quick caffeine hit you want I wouldn't mix it with porridge - it'll take a while longer to get into your system.I have considered stirring Nescafe into my porridge but suspect it would taste odd.
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