Marka Ragnos

But surely he realises that the competition in the midfield is terrifically ferocious right now. He's too intelligent not get that. We'll have enough games that he'll get plenty of playing time, IMO.

Pretty much, although I reserve the right to replace players in my dream team as needed depending on today's performance lol.

Is Bailey gonna be on left? I've been telling Emery that's how he needs to set up. I wonder if he listened.

That's amazing --- and it's so funny because I was thinking about Blackpool as I've reading your post about the cup history and thinking it would pure silliness if the Tangerines played in the Orange Cup. It just feels like getting Emery and doing so well is opening up new doors for us as a club, ya know? I love this.

This is a huge honour as the club sees it, as far as I can tell, and any idea that Valencia will treat this match as "just a friendly" would be mistaken. Valencia usually wins. What a great experience and gift for our players! I'm glad for them. Nice little warm-up for the Conference experiences to come. Will be watching on Villa TV, sipping a glass of orange juice no doubt made with Valencia cultivar oranges.

Ah, lovely -- and I see the famous Microtilt® adjuster. Never had one of those.

Yes. It is. Globalisation of football … inevitably, national competitions have receded somewhat. English football traditions are victims of their own success?

Could see it.

That Fender … a byoot.

What a ridiculous and wonderful topic to be arguing about. A year ago, it would have seemed insane even to joke about it.

UPDATE: I finally tried these. Hmmm. Do you like grilled squid flavour? The texture and freshness of this crisp were off the charts good; the flavour is ... unusual. It's an oceany, briney, slightly smokey--sweet flavour -- that's not so different from prawn, but a little more "meaty" tasting. Very hard to describe. I'm not sure I loved the flavour, but I was super impressed by the quality of the product, if that makes sense? I'd like to try some other flavours in the same line.

Or maybe, the worse a guitarist, the better the guitar you need for the comfort of those around you? Or something? Some guitars are so nice, you can hardly get a bad sound outta them. But back to yours, oooooooooh. What sort of Gretsch and Tele?

Haha. That sounds like a great collection. What sort of tele have you got? I'm sure you have the sonic zone of a Martin 000-15M already covered. It's one of the cheapest USA-made made, all Mahogany. It's what that Gerry Cinnamon fellow plays.

Yes, perfect for an intermediate. Easy to play, narrow neck if you have smaller hands (I don't, but still), really great sustain, and neither too boomy and dark or too shimmery and thin. I find Martins easier to play and more resonant, but the Yamaha is one I can just grab and play and not feel nervous about handling.

ie, You want a one-night stand or a longer-term relationship? Either one could lead to marriage -- and either to divorce, too.

Oh, if I was really whingey about it, she wouldn't mind I kept everything, so it's some of me, too. The Martin is an amazing instrument, and I love it, but we do have a lot of gear at our house, and I don't find myself playing the Martin very much these days. It sounds strange, too, but if you know Martins, you know they always feel SO delicate and fragile, and I just feel like it's a hazard around here, like I'm going to trip over it and smash it to pieces on day lol. When I bought my last one, I said I would cull the herd (but didn't), too. I do have a pretty good Yamaha FG735S acoustic, too, and at least one of my friends claims it sounds much better than the USA-made Martin. It's a rosewood instrument with a spruce top. I'm kind of a big Eliott Smith fan, and he played Yamaha acoustics, although he recorded with a Martin mostly, if I recall correctly. This is the same as my Yamaha. I also have a crazy-cheap but good Epiphone Les Paul junior and a decent bass my son plays. I coujld probably get away with keeping the guitars I have, but buying another isn't happening unless I sell, I feel. Call it "Household FFP."

Remember: She lives with me (and that ain't easy), so she's already made a LOT of concessions in her life . Right now things are at the "you-said-you-were-going-to-sell-one-of-your-guitars" stage of loss. As you know, this stage can last for decades. But I think you may have talked me down from selling the tele. It IS such a versatile guitar!

You did say "one of these things," and that necessarily excludes a cup that comes with CL qualification. One only, you say. At least that's how I interpreted the question. The problem with a cup is they are to an extent "once and done." So it's got to be CL qualification for me because it's better for the worldwide reputation and growth of Aston Villa by far than any cup. A cup gives English fans bragging rights down the pub, a CL spot gives far more media coverage around the world and new fans in distant places.

Really interesting country. I have been reading a book about the Zanzibar Revolution (or Zanzibar genocide, depending on how you think of it), and reflecting on the forgotten horror of all that. We have a lot of connections to east Africa. I do feel like what we're seeing today in Burkina Faso, C.A.R., Niger, etc. is almost almost a resumption of Cold War strongman political dynamics with the sometimes cynical pretense of "socialism" simply tossed aside?

Tough one, obviously -- and great thread idea. What a luxurious "problem" to have, really, especially when you think of where we were just a year ago. I chose Luiz and Tielemans, mostly because McGinn is so versatile in several places and Kamara, while amazing, still seems a little injury-prone to me.

Ah, missed this. I still have my tele, but I'm afraid the missus needs me to sell a Martin acoustic I have. Those Yamaha SG series guitars for some reason were way more popular in Britain. Not sure why. But that's part of why I've always been interested. I will try to keep the tele. The only solution as you know is more guitars.

I'm aware of the danger and the colonial baggage implicit in referring to "Africa" in a kind of sweeping way as this thread does, but there are of course many unifying and intermingling challenges and histories and cultural traditions that, I feel, justify it. I started this thread mostly because I didn't see a place to address the recent outbreak of coups in west and central Africa, which are so troubling. The coup is Niger is huge and tragic, toppling a democratically elected leader. But a topic called African Coups is perhaps more problematic than one called Africa: Contemporary Politics. One thread seems too little to talk about "Africa" and politics, of course. It's so complex a topic. I get that. Consider that we don't have a "North American Politics" or an "Asian Politics" thread, for instance. It may make you wonder, why an "Africa" one? Again, I just think that there is a strong mutually nurtured and shared awareness among large parts of urban Africa, that thread does make sense, despite how what's happening in Pretoria is so different from what's happening in, say, Cairo. I do feel like this post if not the thread itself also connects the the Global Far Right thread, too, because the crop of new "strongmen" in west and central Africa have made their fondness for people like Putin clear.

I know it's crazy talk. I know. But after the Lazio performance, I'm sitting here trying to work out how we're not NOT going to be title contenders. I know. Crazy talk. Absolutely mental. It's just a feeling. But still. Wow. Right?

Agree, but I wouldn't assume (and I'm not saying you have) that they're not British. Lazio has the kind of reputation that might draw people aiming to cause hurt, who aren't there for the football. But they could face lifetime bans if IDed. The Lazio club doesn't want these scumbags around any more than we do, I would think.

Do you know if there's a record of that? There should be repercussions back in Italy for that. Shameful.