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World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

theguardian.com

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Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#491

Post by HarHarVeryFunny »

noobermin wrote: post #299
oblio wrote: post #236

The British are living proof of the fact that amazing things[1] can be achieved when the place you live in is extremely boring. [1] For varied definitions of "amazing", such as "conquer countries 10x your size", "invent 20 sports the entire world plays", etc.

So the bit about UK food being attrocious is unfortunately true from my limited experience but the country itself has a lot of beauty, I think, as long as you look in the roght places.

OTOH the national dish is Chicken Tikka Masala.

Still, can't beat a good British fried breakfast.

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#492

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

_fat_santa wrote: post #390

Apparently he was cleared of cheating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJKIbq2FuG8

I wish there were a picture of this steel conker somewhere. I mean, is it "steel colored"? Seems like it would be obvious if it were used.

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#493

Post by 4dregress »

lukas099 wrote: post #458
dansitu wrote: post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure where you've been eating, but even Birmingham—my unfashionable British hometown—has nine Michelin star restaurants within a short drive. I grew up in the UK but I've lived for 15 years all over the US, and it's always confused me that Americans are convinced that British food is bad. On a whole, British supermarkets have far better produce, in both quality and diversity. UK restaurants run the gamut from cut…

I think the trope is that British cuisine , that is, dishes that are uniquely British, are bad. Not that there isn’t good food there. Being a rich country, an empire, and part of Europe means you can have many, many different cuisines there though, and like you said many are very good.

We have amazing dishes and even more amazing puddings!

I highly recommend you check out this book:

https://www.phaidon.com/store/cookbooks-food-and-drink/the-b...

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#494

Post by andrewaylett »

noobermin wrote: post #299
oblio wrote: post #236

The British are living proof of the fact that amazing things[1] can be achieved when the place you live in is extremely boring. [1] For varied definitions of "amazing", such as "conquer countries 10x your size", "invent 20 sports the entire world plays", etc.

So the bit about UK food being attrocious is unfortunately true from my limited experience but the country itself has a lot of beauty, I think, as long as you look in the roght places.

The UK excels at nicking bits of culture from other places, making them our own, but passing them off to the world as authentically foreign.

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#495

Post by lazide »

smolder wrote: post #302
shermantanktop wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, dopamine is dopamine. This ain’t stolen valor or a plagiarized thesis.

I think it's a special kind of person that gets a kick from "winning" at something that's not a challenge. You might as well write "winner" on a t-shirt in marker and wear it.

Speaking of which [https://www.thepopculture.co/products/need-room-full-mirrors...]

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#496

Post by joncrocks »

ljf wrote: post #395
joncrocks wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not quite that simple. The line isn't quite as hard between seed and 'nut'. Namely people may commonly refer to things as a nut when it is a seed. e.g. a Peanut is a seed, as are almonds, cashews, walnuts.

Very true - I'll admit that while I knew that peanuts are legumes not nuts, I didn't know that the others you mentioned were not nuts. I learn something new every day (and my son has a severe allergy to many of them - though not all - so I should know these things!). And while I know my son can safely play with conkers, we most certainly have not tried to eat one!

Ultimately it depends on the semantic meaning when you say 'nut'. They are not 'nuts' in terms of the technical definition, but they are in terms of 'what most people think of when you say nut'.

There's also some things with nut in their name. c.f. Nutmeg, coconut.

As others have mentioned, same kind of deal with 'berry'.

And to follow up, if you're travelling abroad it's worth noting that some countries have different naming structures/separate out the families of 'nuts'. So be careful if you're asking if something has 'nuts' in, there can be a language barrier. e.g. tree nuts vs. Lupins (peanut family).

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#497

Post by dansitu »

rootusrootus wrote: post #477
dansitu wrote: post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure where you've been eating, but even Birmingham—my unfashionable British hometown—has nine Michelin star restaurants within a short drive. I grew up in the UK but I've lived for 15 years all over the US, and it's always confused me that Americans are convinced that British food is bad. On a whole, British supermarkets have far better produce, in both quality and diversity. UK restaurants run the gamut from cut…

When I read comments like yours I wonder how you define "all over the US." Obviously, that is nowhere near enough time to experience the breadth of culture that spans the US, so I'm guessing just a few specific locations. It's the only explanation I can come up with for your generalizations being completely opposed to my experience (and I've spent more like 50 years living all over the US...). FWIW, I'd say that whil…

I've lived in California, Montana, Washington, and South Carolina (my home for the past few years). I've spent a ton of time with family in the Midwest and the Ozarks. So not everywhere, but a good cross section!

I'm not sure I made a generalization about America besides the quality and diversity of supermarket food, and an anecdote about how many of my friends cook at home.

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#498

Post by Tarsul »

_fat_santa wrote: post #390

Apparently he was cleared of cheating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJKIbq2FuG8

He does not say that he is cleared, he says that their initial investigation indicates that he's innocent but they will corrobarate within the next 24h or so.

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#499

Post by dave333 »

thatguymike wrote: post #464
zabzonk wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone that played it over 60 years ago, there is quite a bit of technique involved - for example, aiming to hit the opponent's conker accurately and hard.

Wouldn't that newton's-second-law your own conker just as hard though? As the aggressor you get to choose the points of contact, which must be where the accuracy comes in. If you can strike your opponent downwards you're more likely to knock them off the string and lead to Stamps.

Conkers are usually oblate spheroids and the dangling one has its largest radius spot on top usually - thinking back I never thought to string one differently not sure if that was allowed. So the person taking the hit can aim to hit with the shortest radius section of their conker on the flat spot of the other. There's also the skill of an accurate hit - someone who misses a lot or hits away from center glancing blows is not going to win very much.
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