“Things will come unstuck. Things will fall apart. Mr Hyde will rear his ugly head once more - he cannot be repressed. But for now that’s not important. Long live Dr Jekyll.”
via David Marples
Police receive record number of camera submissions in 2025… most of them from cyclists (again)
The Estuary Wilds weather forecast suggested rain. My instinct was to GTFO and play wiff waff before all the beastliness came chucking it down once again. It was a wise decision. We managed a half hour game of dry table tennis, with only light wind but darkened skies.
A new serve was inflicted on me by A. I’m not being funny, but it was crap. It was basically a backhand serve, with an attempt at spin to kill the ball dead on the first bounce. It was signposted in such an obvious way before delivery. All I needed to do was to lean forward and smash down the return.
I was struggling however to find my length on the outdoor table. I was aiming for the far corners each time - the most difficult areas of the table in which to put in a decent return. The ball was falling short - or probably long - by a couple of centimetres each time.
Which was all something of a shame, seeing as though we a captive half term audience at various stages. I do bloody love showboating. I just need to make sure that I have something to showboat about. I was BATTERED 4-1, natch.
This album oscillates up and down, both in mood and on the musical scale. The guitars are so stretched out that it must be impossible to score what is being played on a music sheet. I think that is the least of concerns of the Mondays. It’s all about the attitude. Pills, Thrills has bucket loads of front. It swaggers from start to finish. Walk it like you talk it. Not a musical masterpiece, but certainly an album to turn to if you want to puff your chest out.
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Writing a Crap Match Report when Forest are crap is easy. The words take care of themselves. Writing a Crap Match Report when Forest are fantastic requires a little more thought. Why did that just happen? What was the tactical set up? How did the fourth Head Coach of the season manage to put in place such a change in fortunes, one week after the Wolves downer that led to Dyche’s sacking?
I can’t answer any of the above. I can only write about what I saw on Thursday evening whilst watching on the telly. SHOUT OUT to the 1,200 Forest fans that managed to make the military like trip over into Asia for a European fixture. I very rarely leave the village these days. I admit to a momentary feeling of jealousy watching the social clips of those taking on the great adventure. We use to get excited ahead of a Highfield Road away day.
The European suits were back once again ahead of KO. These are very ill-fitting. They first made an appearance midway into the European adventure away at Braga. I’m not sure why they weren’t worn in Seville back in September. Maybe it was the weather?
I’ll happily take seeing the 15 stone or so of Murillo squeezed into a poorly tailored suit, if it means that he is in the starting line up ahead of Morato. Yes, he looked a little bulky. And yes, I didn’t see any sign of the ‘injury’ that kept him away from the final dark days of the Dyche regime. Fancy that.
The suits were soon stripped off, and Forest were Welcomed to Hell wearing all red - which felt appropriate. I always bloody love it when we are kitted out in Garibaldi red from top to bottom. Now then: how to go about silencing the Fenerbahçe partisan crowd, not to mention the bloody annoying PA system?
Playing an amazing opening spell of the game might help. A couple of first half goals would almost certainly give the Forest away support at least the chance of being heard. Cometh the hour, cometh the BULK of Murillo to walk through the midfield and guide his shot home, almost Collymore style. We all knew this was coming at some stage. It had a slight feel of Des at home to Luton back in the day.
It wasn’t all Nu Forest. There was still some confusion from set pieces. The sight of MGW looking frantically at the subs to receive a message about what the chuff to do was a little worrying. The on field argument with CHO about what was about to happen wasn’t a good look. I can help you out here: our set pieces are going nowhere and near some urgent work, as they have done all season.
Elsewhere and I wouldn’t tinker too much with whatever training ground time is available between now and Sunday ahead of Liverpool t the World Famous. Having had their footballing brains coached out of them with three different messages so far this season, the instructions from Pereira seemed to be just go out and bloody enjoy yourselves.
The Fenerbahçe penalty claim looked decent to me. Some you win, them’s the breaks, etc. It would have been a turning point in the match - and indeed the two-legged tie. The perfect response from Forest was to go the other end and score… from a set piece. Scrub what I said earlier. That was no easy header from Jesus. The ball was rising. He had to rise even higher just to control it and direct it down. BACK OF THE NET.
I was happy at 2-0. Time to shut up shop. But Forest weren’t happy. They continued to press on the break. How brilliant was Sangare? He looks so immobile, but then has the skills to turn on the spot and blind side two opposition players. He’s the enforcer that Forest have missed for many years now. His pace may let him down in the PL, but he is perfect for these European away days.
The MGW third goal finally silenced the Fenerbahçe ultras. It’s all gone quiet over there, etc. Watching MGW score an away European goal for Forest in February is something that seemed highly unlikely last summer when #lolspurs were circling.
The post-match presser from Pereira was very classy. There was no finger pointing at the part-time players on the bench. He made a point of giving a hug to Bakwa at FT, no doubt with the message that your time will come. He spoke of how the win was down to the players, and not him. He’s not had time to coach them yet. The more Dyche coached them, the worse they got. Let’s hope that Pereira continues with a Laissez Faire approach.
In summary: OUTSTANDING. This team surely can’t get relegated? Good luck in selling out the WFCG for the return leg dead rubber.
There was a couple of young fellas outside my house as I opened the garden gate ahead of the morning run. Nothing sinister - well not in appearances, anyway. They were suited and booted, of sorts. They had their best Top Man whistles on, with a raincoat over the top. Suits should never be worn with raincoats. Even if it is raining.
They smiled at me. At first I thought they were here to try and flog me some utility, which is only marginally less of a rip off than the one that I am currently having to work all hours for in which to afford. But nope, instead they handed me a leaflet.
REFORM UK.
Oh.
They must have been 17, 18 max. It’s half term week, innit. At least it keeps them out of trouble, depending on what your definition of trouble is.
Bless them.
They were most polite, and even looked up for a chat. Reflecting back I should have taken the opportunity to ask them a little further about what had drawn such young innocent minds towards fascism. But I was keen to head out, pounding the mean streets of CO7 as I try and progress with my running injury.
Back at base, I had a shifty of the leaflet they presented me with:
NET ZERO IS BANKRUPTING BRITAIN.
I told you my utility bills were high.
I read a little deeper:
“Crazy net zero targets, scrap subsidies, stop the blight of wind farms.”
The blight. Yep, bless etc.
It stopped short of being in complete climate emergency denier mode. But the intention was there. And so was the piss poor bloody Estuary Wilds weather. I should have taken some time to ask them what the fuck they were doing delivering leaflets on the 50th consecutive day of shitty rain.
Wot No Climate Emergency?
This is the second time this month the nationalists have been out door bothering the good people of Weird Wiv. Earlier we had four more mature fellas bussed in from Thurrock. They stopped for a selfie outside the public toilets. It looked like they were out for a bit of cottaging.
“But now comes a new start - another one - and I can’t remember a managerial appointment being treated with such a level of apathy from so many supporters.”
“As far as I can see, there are only two factions in the Labour Party: 1. Pathetic Losers 2. Evil Sociopaths”
This is stunning. It captures the shift from soul to funk, without ever becoming guilty of falling into all the blaxploitation cliches. At the centre of this is the bass, which holds it all together. The sax solos, harmonicas, and even the stretched out instrumentals - it’s music for music sake. We need more uplifting albums like this for our times. SAULT currently fill the gap, but I could do without all the God stuff.
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Thisis raising a much needed smile this morning, the Gay Jamaica Independence Time compilation. It was a heads up first thing from R. He’s very good at sourcing these ska and blue beat albums. From what I can gather, Arthur Duke Reid is involved in the production of all the tracks. There’s a some familiar early riddims that would later surface as reggae staple songs. It was released recently on Cherry Red. Keep smiling. Yep.
Short and sweet. Just the blast I needed to kick start the morning. Look a little deeper beyond all the dumb ass punk attitude and there’s a little more going off here. Musically, Minor Threat are very good at what they do. They understand the genre and its limitations, but push it a little further. Sounding DIY, but playing with skill - it’s a tricky feat to achieve. Impressive.
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“People make the same mistake with AI that we make with every new tech. We focus on the creators not the users. As users we are learning a new skill, how to specify our needs precisely. Whether this is good or bad, I don’t know”
via @DaveWiner
