Hello from Mobo2000
Hi all,
Long time lurker looking to make the transition to semi-regular poster. I've been reading rabble and babble, avidly, for over 10 years. My politics is largely focused on issues of class/poverty/labour rights and anti-war, but Rabble and babble have helped me expand my horizons a bit, I hope.
For the oldtime posters here, I wanted to mention I went to highschool with Audra, and I miss Slumberjack, Maysie and Cueball.
I've been hesitant to post here in the past, but I'm trying to get over it. In this age of Trump, I feel something of a duty to get better at talking with/listening to people with whom I disagree. So I'm here to practice.
Here's a little bit about me:
White male, mid-40's. I live in Toronto, have a partner and 2 kids under 13. I've worked both professionally and as a volunteer for the NDP for most of the past 2 decades. I've been a union member and shop steward at my place of work (and helped the organizing drive when we first unionized).
Other than politics, I practice and (volunteer) teach karate at several community centres, along with Arnis. I also play a lot of board games and video games.
Looking forward to contributing here. Best wishes, all.
Mobo
Ug, sorry everyone, I don't know what I did to create 3 copies of this thread! I guess just hit preview and/or save once, eh?
Sometimes that happens if you press the send button for just a bit too long. Hopefully a moderator can simply delete the superfluous posts.
Welcome to babble!
Welcome. That's an important and formative experience there (organizing drive).
Maybe you could educate some of us about your board game experience - what's left, what's right, that sort of thing. I have my own favorites, but another opinion is often helpful. Ever played PolEconomy? Bertell Ollman's Class Struggle? The many Railbuilder games? Go? Chess? We had a chess tournament here once ... but it was like herding cats and the Director (me) abandoned the effort out of frustration.
I've been here since May 2001. Those were the days when the lurkers outnumbed those who posted comments, I think, and plenty would sit in the weeds, waiting for you to make a foolish, unsubstantiated remark, and smack your knuckles for such. Very educational.
Ikomos: I've played Go for many years, probably a bit rusty now but I approached 1st dan when I played competitively. Played Poleconomy, Setters of Caatan, MTG, Puerto Rico, Axis and Allies, Supremacy, Illuminati (personal fav). Played Railbuilder and Ticket to Ride as well, but not really my cup of tea. Was a big fan of a game called Junta, but hard to play as it's best with 7 people.
And thanks for the welcome -- I'm sure I will make many foolish remarks here, and unsubstantiated is a given.
Any advice for newbie Go players? Certain books or websites (to play) ?
Most general advice would be to start on smaller boards and play people better than you. Attacking is in general harder than defending, but the biggest skill is reading the board, and the relative importance of each group.
As for go books, Kato's Attack and Kill, beyond having an awesome title, is excellent.
I used to use a go program that allowed you to play the computer, or play random people online. It has a replay system where you could watch famous games move by move, and get explanations from the players on why they did what they did. I don't have the name here but am looking for it and will update this with it later.
Welcome Mobo!
Thanks Meg!
Also a question -- what's the best way to flag these duplicate posts? Ken had suggested I contact you to ask the dups be removed but I wasn't sure best way? Flag as offensive?
Jaydub: As a teenager I did Chito-Ryu for about 6 years heavily, got my black belt. Then I messed around in my 20's and didn't keep it up. When my oldest kid was 5 I decided to get back into it with her. We do Shotokan, the JKA version, at the community centre. We've been doing it for about 8 years, my youngest kid just finished his first year. It's been a great experience and the community centre program is terrific (and free for people in priority neighbourhoods).
Ikosmos: Regarding go programs, I've used both these sites in the past. Both are good, and free, and you can see tutorials and replays of games between grandmasters.
http://pandanet-igs.com/communities/pandanet
https://www.gokgs.com/
Both your personal experience level, as well as what you do for the community, are quite impressive.
I'm a practitioner of Yoshukai, which is a descendent style of Chito-Ryu.
As a green belt, however, I'm more-or-less a beginner.
Thanks, but I wish I hadn't partied so hard in my 20's and wasted as many prime training years as I did. The volunteer teaching is much more fun than work, except I have to get up at 7:30 on weekends. But the kids are great, and I've become good friends with some of the parents.
I don't know much about Yoshukai, but l checked out the hombo dojo website. Looks great, very traditional. Keep at it, and best of luck in your training!