arab_joe

Arabjoe wins by checkmate. The game swung each way, with missed opportunities on both sides - but I eventually got my Queen free and there was nowhere that your King could escape to.

I've booked on Ticketmaster before going a few times, but last couple of trips I have found that going to the box office at the venue can get you really good seats at the last minute without any booking fees etc. If it is Book of Mormon specifically that you are looking at, it is one that comes up at the TKTS Stall on Times Square quite a lot - and their prices can be really good on the day (TKTS website - Book of Mormon). The TKTS website links through to Seatgeek for advance booking (so should be legit).

I'm likely to time out my game as I'm abroad and left my phone in a taxi (and my work laptop won't allow me onto Chess.com...). My apologies, markf268!

I have just finished another cracking podcast from the CBC, Pressure Cooker (link). The CBC synopsis sums it up better than I ever could: "John and Amanda have lived on the fringes their whole lives. They’re on welfare, living with John’s grandma, and struggling with addiction to opioids and Dungeons and Dragons... The couple converts to Islam in an attempt to turn their lives around. But things take a wild turn when a mysterious figure enters their lives and draws them into a web of conspiracy, deception and terror." A pretty incredible tale, concisely told over 5 parts (there is nothing worse than a podcast stringing out a story over 20 episodes...) - would highly recommend. I also recently enjoyed Burn Wild from the BBC (link), about some environmental protesters that ended up on the FBI top 10 most wanted list. Hosted by the wonderful Leah Sottile (who is the journalist that was behind the Bundyville podcasts (link) - if you haven't listened to them already and you're intrigued by America/right-wing militia/weirdness then you absolutely must). Finally, and a bit closer to home, really liked the Good Ship Brewdog podcast from the BBC (link), which explores the weird world of Brewdog and some of the, er... unusual actions of its founders. Have finally binned Open Goal, Peter Crouch and a fair few others - I'm learning that it is very difficult to sustain a podcast beyond an initial couple of years and it is better to just unsubscribe than to follow them on their downward spiral... Oh, and Chris Dawson has been sentenced to 24 years (Guardian article). Likely that he'll never see the light of day again!

I'm in for the League, please. I won't sign up for the Cup, given how badly I have failed every time I have ever tried that 960 format...

Congratulations! We welcomed our second a week ago (first was born in March 2020 when the world was going crazy over COVID) and if you like parenthood even a 10th as much as I do then you're in for a treat. On the highlighted part, undoubtedly the most difficult times of my parenting journey thus far (and I accept that I am far, far less experienced than most on the thread) has been working away. On a few occasions I've left my wife and son in London and flown to the Middle East for work (and those have only been for 4 or 5 week stints) - to hide the tears I've had to basically wear sunglasses in the tube, in the airport, on the plane and then in the taxi home... I'm not sure what your job is, but if there is any way that you can work from/near home even for the first few months then I would highly recommend it (and you'll be a far greater help to your other half)! P.S. this thread is great for tips and reassurances.

Confirmed that I have just resigned vs. AH13STU. Well played, mate.

Is this not season 6? Also, much though I wish I had 4 victories under my belt, I only have 3 (Gkneil, Purplekangaroo and Aimhere) and my game vs AH13STU is ongoing (and almost certainly going to be a win for AH13STU). Thanks again for organising!

One of the greatest places on earth, in my humble opinion. As wonderful in winter as it is in summer. I took this on my iPhone from the top of Sunshine Village in July 2019. There was a very large, very fresh pile of bear pooh when we got to the far side of Larix Lake (the lower of the two lakes), which was a bit disconcerting but I had purchased bear spray so at least I felt safe (even if I was not):

Thank you, San Diego Padres. You will have my unwavering support for the rest of the play-offs. Musgrove has been sensational this post-season. However, I think I'm even more impressed by Josh Hader - when I watched him for the Brewers against the (pretty pathetic) Giants a few months ago he was absolutely terrible - I mean really, really jaw-droppingly terrible to the point he made the Giants look fantastic (Article - Hader 'just searching' after 3-homer outing in walk-off loss). That was just an incredible comeback/collapse. I have a soft spot for the Blue Jays, so was sad to see them go out, but that was just such breathtaking. Delighted that you got to witness that live - can hardly imagine how good it was. I was nervous watching the 10 minute YouTube highlights and I already knew the score! I very much enjoyed that! I just had a look at the MLB salaries: MLB salaries. I cannot believe that the Guardians are sat 28th, getting this far on an USD 82 million salary is some achievement (for reference, the Giants have more than USD 82 million currently injured...).

6 points from the 3 games, and heading up to the Ross County 6-pointer off the bottom. A lot better position that I thought we would be in after the St Johnstone debacle! We need to keep this momentum going. Looking back, this was absolutely spot-on. With a little bit of defensive cover, the midfield (perhaps with the exception of Middleton) have been far more effective going forward - and that stability has also allowed the full-backs far more freedom to attack. I'm still perplexed as to how anyone could leave out Sibbald after the way he played in the first 3 or 4 games of the season (where he was largely the only positive), but maybe there was an underlying injury or fitness issue that the club wanted to keep quiet. If it was on form, then no wonder the players couldn't understand Ross' gameplan. One down, one to go. Behich is on fire. Hard to disagree with this - with the exception of his goal at home to Alkmaar, I don't think that he has offered anywhere near enough.

You may well be right - and I certainly hope you are. I was just very surprised, as he seemed completely unaware of the friendly even when it was brought up by Tam Cowan, who asked whether he had been involved - Levein was then asking aloud whether it was Hearts or Hibs who had played them etc., totally oblivious to the fact that he had managed United in the same fixture. I get that it may not have been fresh in his memory, but when asked about it I would have expected him to remember. We almost beat them the first year, with Henry scoring in the final few minutes - I've never spoken to (or heard an interview of) anyone who was present at either game who doesn't remember it pretty vividly. I hope you're right. He mentioned on Off The Ball that he had recently gone to a Brechin away game only to discover that they were actually playing at home that day (or perhaps it was the other way round, my memory is a little hazy...) - and there were a few other things on the Sacked in the Morning podcast that just caused me a slight bit of concern. As others have said, he may well play up to it a bit for comedic value! My apologies, you are of course absolutely right. What a privilege it was to see young Leo Messi grace the Tannadice pitch. I sat in the Shed for the first one, it was an incredible atmosphere considering it was a pre-season friendly. I'm still raging that they chopped off Robson's header. If memory serves, that was Prince Buaben's debut - he ran awkwardly, kicked the ball in a weird way, but what a legend he became.

I've had that same thought a number of times. He was on Off The Ball recently, discussing glamour pre-season friendlies... initially he couldn't remember that Dundee United (who he was in charge of at the time) had played Barcelona (not once, but twice)- then when he was reminded of it, he stated that Messi had not been playing (Messi scored a first-half hat-trick in one of the games). As a fan I remember the games clearly - you'd think as a manager you'd not quickly forget going up against a club like Barcelona. He references his terrible memory quite frequently on his podcast with Amy Irons - I hope it is just that, a terrible memory, and nothing more sinister.

The season is over for the Giants - and what an odd season. No consistency whatsoever, which ultimately did for us - Rodon was on fire pitching (he'll do exactly what Kevin Gausman did last year and go on for big bucks and more than likely be a success) and Pederson was at times excellent with the bat (he'll do exactly what Kris Bryant did last year and go for big bucks - I'm not convinced he'll be as bad as Bryant (which I did predict on this thread...) but he is far from perfect and is dreadful defensively), but that aside too many players were well below-par and at time the defense was comically bad. Enjoy the playoff run! Please just beat the Dodgers. Anyone. Please.

The Teacher's Trial and in particular The Teacher's Pet are both absolutely fantastic listens - the trial summaries sometimes dragged on a bit, but that aside they were both well worth a listen. With my legal hat on, I do have some serious concerns that the podcast may assist in an appeal, right enough... The Australian is not quite the CBC, but it is not a million miles off it - Who the hell is Hamish?, Night Driver and The Lighthouse were all very good too (and that is coming from someone who has never set foot in Australia so hasn't a clue about the locations discussed).

Gkneil wins by checkmate - for reasons unknown I went to swap a Knight for a Bishop, but when you took my Knight I neglected to take your Bishop, and never really got back into the game after that. Well played. Board_Stupid wins by resignation - your Queen and Bishops got into a position from which I had no chance of return. Well played. I think that's 5 or 6 losses in a row for me with little fight put up in any of them... doing a "Jack Ross", if you like.

Apparently this was a bit of an over-reaction...

Such is my desire to wipe Crawford's playing career from my memory that I deleted the sentence "let's hope he's a better assistant manager than he was a player for us" - we paid 80,000 for him!! I have no idea how good an appointment Liam Fox will be - I know so little about the guy that I find it very hard to make judgment. All I know is that every time we fire a manager I make the point on here that we have an absolutely abysmal record of hiring managers (since McLean left the club in 1993, how many successful hires have there been?) - and that there is little to suggest that the board at the club are any better at choosing a manager than a monkey would... And yes, someone will already be digging through Liam Fox's old Tweets and will no doubt find one from about 2011 that suggests he might possibly have wanted Rangers/Dundee/Roma to win a game and he will already be on borrowed time. At least he won't have a ridiculous recruiter-style LinkedIn profile like our Tam did!

Routine win for AimHere (by resignation). I gave away a Knight after about 5 moves, then was never even close to getting even. Well played!

I think it is a bit of a stretch to think that I/the group of lawyers (from Australia, the UK, India etc.) that I work with have somehow lost our ability to form rational opinions because we are temporarily resident in the UAE, but I take that on board - maybe I view things differently from out here than I did back home. Either way, to reiterate what I said above, I have no problem with people protesting against the Queen, the monarchy, the forced mourning or anything else - singing a "Lizzy's in a box" song just seemed, from my viewpoint, a very crass way of doing that. I've got no problem with criticism of the monarchy but that wasn't my point - it was the way that a minority of Arabs chose to do that that I have a problem with. In my view, it has cast the club in a negative light a wide range of people. As far as I could see, most on the thread are having a sensible discussion about whether or not the few Arabs that made headlines at the weekend had overstepped a line of common decency and were singing in really poor taste; or were acting reasonably in winding up Rangers fans, protesting the monarchy and voicing their displeasure at an odd period of forced mourning in the UK. Some are saying one thing, some are saying the other. My wife was seconded to the UAE by her European employer and I chose to move to keep my family together. Like most places I've lived, it has pros and cons. Does your residency in the UK mean that you support the Tory Government and all of their laws? Precisely. Some of us do not have the privilege to work where we choose (otherwise I'd be typing this from an apartment in Manhattan and planning my weekend in the Hamptons!). Anyway, it looks like Liam Fox is getting the job, with Stevie Crawford as his assistant - at least we can all agree that's an underwhelming appointment (if it happens) but that we'll back him 100% (until we lose our first game...).

You're may be right, perhaps I shouldn't feel embarrassed by what fellow Arabs do - but I guess it is in the same way that I feel a sense of pride in the fact that "we" were awarded the UEFA Fair Play Award in 1987 (when I was still in nappies). It is just part of the football fan experience, I guess, feeling an affinity with fellow fans and what they do (or it is to me, at least). Colleagues at work rarely discuss Dundee United (the SPFL isn't big news in the Middle East) but a good few have mentioned their disgust at the timing of the singing. That is embarrassing to me (but from the replies I have received, clearly not embarrassing to others). Of course it is my opinion, like the rest of the rubbish I type on here. Not really sure that needed clarification. If United fans were collectively objecting to the forced mourning (which I agree has been incredibly weird - but not something I think warrants a protest), then they could have turned their back, held their scarf up to show that they're only observing the silence as a mark of respect for the club etc. etc. but, in my opinion, singing "Lizzy's in a box" during a minute's appreciation for the Queen being observed by 50,000 others (whether they were Rangers fans or not is immaterial in my eyes), is a fairly poor and classless choice. That's a good question, and not one I have a satisfactory answer to. Again, if United fans were collectively objecting to the forced mourning, singing "Lizzy's in a box" was a fairly poor choice. Thank you for your input, as witty as ever...

Jets vs Giants in the Super Bowl is going to be wild!

/losable. I know us Arabs are prone to hyperbole, but these next 3 games are going to define our season. We need an absolute minimum of 4 or 5 points (in a normal season we might be aiming for 6 or 7, but this is not a normal season) to get us off the bottom of the table and start looking up at the teams above (especially given our pathetic goal difference) - any less than that and we go into a run of away games knowing that we will be bottom of the table at the end of October... It hasn't been mentioned on this thread, I note, but the booing/singing of the Arabs at Ibrox on Saturday was truly embarrassing. There is a time and a place to voice reasonable concerns that you might have about the Queen, the monarchy or anything else that you don't believe in - that was neither.

A very routine win for AH13STU (by resignation) - I'm playing 3 games simultaneously and making fairly basic mistakes in all 3...

Arabjoe wins by checkmate. I'm not really sure where that came from but found my Queen in a great position, and happy to get my first win of the season.