English isn’t his first language, right? The instrumentals work best. It’s a real curiosity of an album. The intention was never to make an outstanding record. Experimentation was heavy on the agenda. As ever with these types of projects, some hit the spot, others fall very wide of the mark. Hit and miss, pick and mix. Enjoyable, but not a must listen.
⭐ ⭐
From pigeon droppings to public art: Clapham Junction underpass gets a dramatic makeover
The Wankerville Bridge at Clap’ham North is up next.
Richard Williams has exquisite taste.
A fourth drop from the new Sleaford fucking Mods album, The Demise of Planet X. Here we have No Touch, a killer collab with Sue Tompkins from Life Without Buildings. I’d forgotten all about the early 2000 Scottish indie band, tbh. Sleaford fucking Mods always choose the best artists to work with. There’s almost a pop feel to No Touch with Tompkins adding a little cheer to the usual rantings. The video was filmed in Dartford, apparently. It could be any town outside the M25. The boarded up shops are a dead giveaway. I’m creaming it ahead of the album in the new year.
Whinny.
⭐
There’s an awful lot going on here: you can’t ignore Lydon’s cry for help - but even an instrumental version of this album would rate highly. Levene’s guitar is like a dental drill; Wobble’s bass sends you dizzy. Even the drums sound unlike what you would expect. There’s something of a rock god feel to them, but somehow they still slot into the jigsaw. It’s a fucked up picture, for sure. But that’s how I like my music.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
I had to give this a second listen. I admit to allowing it to wash over me first time round - which is quite an achievement for a Pogues album. I guess I just wasn’t in the mood. And you need to be in the mood for a Pogues album. This isn’t easy listening. There’s much more depth than I was expecting. The Eastern influences add more light to the simple piss up Pogues' persona. I had to skip THAT song, even in deep December. Sure, it’s magical. But you can only take so much of it, especially so at this time of the year.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Puerile, for sure. But I still haven’t forgiven #lolspurs for 1991.
The New Cue #554 December 15: Wreckless Eric
“McSweeney’s fanatically “centrist” war on the left, by turning the Labour Party into a hollow shell indistinguishable from the Conservative Party, has broken the two-party system and paved the way for the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK – which, it seems, can now only be challenged by the very left that McSweeney and his frontman Starmer have purged from the Labour Party.”
He was a little shit at a crap Lambeth Council. Now he’s a little shit in an even crapper central government.
Dear John. I confess to having serious doubts about Victor starting in goal when the team news dropped an hour ahead of KO. Forest Focus has been saying the same thing all week. DODGY ‘keeper, dodgy ‘keeper, dodgy ‘keeper etc.
Fast forward to 4pm, and yep, I am a crap judge of character.
In Other Minor Team News: with Captain Yates out injured for a few weeks, it was pleasing to see Academy graduate Zach Abbott back on bench warming duties. That proud record of having a home grown player in every squad for the past eight four seasons, is something worth preserving.
And so #lolspurs rocked up at the World Famous, complete with a van load of freebie scarves, all paid for by the club as a Christmas present for every away supporter. wtf is this? I’m getting serious L******er happy clapper vibes.
KO came. Neco seems to be a human punchbag for any opposition thug these days. Hutchinson looks like a natural starter. Sangare is in the best form we’ve ever seen him at Forest. He will be seriously missed when he departs for AFCON.
The first goal showed that Sangare is the most unselfish of players. He knows his job, and he now performs it incredibly well. It would have been easy for a big fella to fluff his lines in a one-on-one situation. He showed sufficient grace to allow COH to take the honours.
“A man can have no greater love than ninety minutes and his friends”
…etc.
The second goal was a Colback doppelgänger - from the exact same side of the ground as well. But OF COURSE COH meant to shoot, right? This was the moment that I realised that little old Forest now have a team of players that can sprinkle some gold dust and piss all over the ‘stars’ of the fancy Dan Spurs.
Djed was decent, mind. It was lovely to see him receive a standing ovation from all four corners of the World Famous when he was hooked. We’ll never forget what he did for our club. I don’t think a returning Max Lowe would get the same treatment.
The second half then became something of a procession for Forest. The only sticking point was some shit refereeing. Murillo in particular had a right old ding dong all afternoon with Richarlison, a player who has a face that just invites you to have a sense of dislike.
It then all became about the clean sheet. Dear John, etc.
The third goal was a stunner - or as Brian Laws said on BBC Radio Nottingham:
“HE’S SWAZZED IT!!!!”
We’re going to miss Sangare deeply over the coming weeks. Douglas Luiz is a half decent ready made replacement.
And so farewell #lolspurs. Take your silly scarves back to North London. Thanks for coming, etc.
Some basketball games are low scoring, yet still tense. Rebels men Vs Nottingham Hoods was a case in point. It would be slightly unflattering to describe the game as uneventful. It had many personal battles, plus some great passages of play. But both teams focussed more on cancelling each other out, rather than keep the scoreboard ticking over.
On the floor and the Match day MC was keeping everyone happy.
“Copy the pose!”
…came the instruction, as a picture of a Rebs players posing appeared on the big screen. There was a slight wardrobe malfunction with an Essex Rebels T-shirt appearing in the background. The image had been cropped, revealing the un-family friendly message of SEX.
Whoops.
Rebels took a 38-33 lead into the break. It was time for the Christmas Jumper Parade on centre court. I stayed firmly sitting on my seat.
Compared to the women earlier, this was a very clean game. Personal fouls were kept low, with both teams preferring to showcase their skills, rather than their muscles.
The game finally got going in the fourth when Nottingham decided to turn up and chase a win. Rebs were too strong, starting the early Christmas celebrations with a well deserved 85-76 home court win.
Christmas Party GAME NIGHT with the Essex Rebels. Usually I would run a mile from anything that SCREAMS Christmas Party at me - especially so if it involves wearing Christmas jumpers. But I can make exceptions for the Rebs.
I wasn’t sure at first if the visiting Sheffield Hatters were wearing a special Christmas themed game jersey. The bright pink colours took a little time to get adjusted to under the bright lights of the court.
Also taking a little time to adjust to the on court conditions were the Rebels. They were chasing the game - and the scoreboard - throughout al four quarters. The home team were never out of the reckoning, but it was a struggle to try and match the pace of Sheffield.
It’s a team game, obvs, but SHOUT OUT to Paige Myler, who kept Rebels in the game with a succession of BIG three pointers. At one point the Rebels were twelve points down. Myler manager to turn this around to take the Rebs two points clear.
This was the signal for the home crowd to wake up and realise that we had a decent ball game breaking out in front of us.
The scores were level 101-101 with 28 seconds remaining on the clock. This became a game of small margins and sharp coaching. Some strong bench work from Coach Cookson saw the game plan delivered to perfection. A foul was drawn, and Ice Queen Rhema Ogele showed no nerves in sinking her two throws from the line to take Rebels clear.
Having trailed throughout the entire game, only to take the lead come the final buzzer, was indeed reason for a Rebs celebration. I allowed myself a little Shaky Merry Christmas Everyone foot shuffle as the team celebrated. You still won’t ever catch me wearing a Christmas jumper.
Up the Rebs.
