“When Nottingham Forest were considering appointing Vitor Pereira last month, among the key influences were his similarities to Nuno Espirito Santo, the head coach who led them from being tipped for relegation to qualifying for Europe last season.”
With Edu now also gone, what have the past seven months been all about? via The Athletic.
Some of the instrumentals work best here. That’s not to say that the vocals aren’t sweet. This is an incredibly warm album. It’s full of optimism, but almost downplayed with the gentle approach to creating something special. You can hear almost track by track where Weller got the whole Wild Wood vibe from.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
No pop, no style. That’s me. And this was just too poppy for my tastes. I’m sure it’s very accomplished. The production doesn’t hold back when throwing everything into the mix. But I’m afraid it’s not for me.
⭐ ⭐
I feel ripped off. We forked out £8 at the cheapo rate to see the new Elvis film at the Sunny Colch Odeon last Monday.
But wait! What’s this?
A few clicks here and there on the crappy Odeon website, and blimey - if you actually take thew time to register, rather than check out as a guest, the price comes down to a grubby fiver. Yep, that’s right: Five quid to see a flick on the big screen.
Job’s a good ‘un.
And so the Monday lunchtime entertainment for this week was Mother’s Pride, the latest English feel good film from the folk that you brought you Fisherman’s Friend. I say English feel good, because that’s exactly what it was.
It was a film that proper critics might describe as “wholesome.” It lamented the long lost English country boozer. Real ale featured, none of that fancy craft beer nonsense. There was also plenty of Morris dancing.
Which all sounds a little Brexit-y to be honest. This theme was reflected in the lunchtime audience for Screen 4 at the Sunny Colch Odeon. When the love interest young female appeared on screen for the first time, one Good Owd Essex Boy arsehole actually shouted out:
“WHORE!!!!”
You don’t get that type of behaviour back at the village cinema. I came close to walking out.
There wasn’t a lot of detail to hold my attention in the film itself. Mother’s Pride is the kind of film where if you’ve seen the trailer, then you’ve already heard the best lines. I came close to laughing once in the hour and a half comedy.
The plot was laser-guided so that you knew what was coming after the first fifteen minutes or so. There was only one way in which this film was going to end.
But still - for a cheeky fiver as part of Bum Dosser Monday, it was a half decent way to spend the afternoon.
Chin chin.
To the Essex Sports Arena! …once again on Sunday. Our weekend has effectively been out-sourced to the Rebs, with the basketball double header on Saturday, and then the same again for volleyball on Sunday.
Ah yes. Volleyball. Don’t diss it. Especially so when you have elite teams playing just up the road at the University at a state of the art facility.
The University is doing a great job in continuing to grow the sporting offer, combined with academic study. It’s a major cultural shift away from the social science model that was present during my time at Wivenhoe Park. I think it’s one for the better…
There was a decent crowd for the two volleyball games on Sunday afternoon. First up was the Rebels men Vs London Giants. The visiting team were giants in every sense. This looked like it was going to be a one sided contest.
The first set went to the Giants. Any sense of appreciation towards their sporting abilities was soon forgotten once we saw the spit bucket placed in the corner of the court. No one likes to see that. Once seen, never forgotten. It kinda soiled the game for us.
The Rebs were more competitive in the second set, but still lost. The crowd continued to grow. SHOUT OUT to the Rebs basketball players who turned out to cheer on their volleyball counterparts. Once a Reb, always a Reb, etc.
We tried to follow the game, but it wasn’t always clear who has won the point. Volleyball isn’t as simple as you might think. Rebs were even stronger in the third, but went down 25-22, with the Giants walking away with a 3-0 set victory.
The women were up next. We hadn’t planned on staying around, with possible FA Cup action on the telly back at base. But BALLS to that. I bloody love watching live sport. We stuck around for the women who had a game against London Sideout.
The warm up ahead of the game involved plenty of rubber band stretches, plus one technique that basically involved throwing yourself at the floor. OUCH. I bet that bloody hurt.
The Rebs women were superb. There was some great team spirit for a game that involves a lot of bench warmers not seeing any action. A 3-0 set victory was secured.
I know I’m supposed to like this. But I find it dull. No soul, no excitement. It’s self-indulgent with lyrics that pass right over me. It’s the sound of eating offal.
⭐ ⭐
“Edu arrival was Forest’s most calamitous recent decision – it’s hard to see how it could have gone worse.”
“I stress how important it is for every generation to find its own spaces, inspirations, styles, and attitudes and to make its own culture, just as we did.”
Dave Haslam on recreating The Hacienda
“Were my hands bloodied with the deaths of up to a million people, I’d probably think twice before giving my opinion on yet another illegal US adventure in the Middle East. Not our Tone, though.”
via Novara
The Rebs men took to the Essex Sports Arena on Saturday evening, following on from an impressive performance from the women on International Women’s Day. No pressure, fellas.
The opponents were Hemel Storm, who in Darien Nelson-Henry had an absolute BEAST of a player. He towered above the tallest of Rebs players, and had the muscle to match. This looked like it could be a difficult evening for the Rebs.
Nelson-Henry won the tip off, obvs, and then continued to dominate in both offence and defence. Rebs simply couldn’t out-muscle him. The only option seemed to be to take your chances when he was off the court.
But wait! What’s this?
Nelson-Henry did have a weakness. Shortly into the first, his man bun (stop it) became undone and he had a few hairstyle malfunctions to deal with. No one likes their flowing locks being ruffled.
I turned around to find Queen B - the Rebs lovely mascot - sitting behind me. I offered up one of my sweets for her. It caused a few issues, watching a smiling rubber faced Roman warrior trying to suck on a sweet through the mask. TOP GIRL.
The game was tight, with the scoreboard showing 27-27 at the first quarter. The second followed a similar pattern, with still no separation between the two teams at 55-55.
Some running repairs were needed to one of the baskets at the break. Elsewhere and the Whitney game kept all the kids happy. Once again we had endless snippets of I Will Always Love You being played, with kids lining up to bang the big Rebs drum in sync with Whitney.
Hours of fun…
The third quarter was tight - so much so that I forgot to log the score. Nelson-Henry tired slightly and was living a dangerous game on four fouls. Rebs took advantage, finally pulling away with a wonderful 79-74 home court win.
International Women’s Day Women’s Day down at the Essex Sports Arena. The Rebs are SUPERB at these type of events. An afternoon of activities were planned, leading up to the women tipping off against Newcastle Eagles at 4pm.
Some impressive marketing has been put behind the day. The Rebs were rewarded with one of the biggest he crowds for the season, mainly families with young daughters. The girls on court are genuine role models for these kids.
I rocked up slightly late, deciding to give the Women’s Sport Collective networking event a miss. No one wants to see a socially awkward middle aged bloke gatecrashing a panel celebrating what can be achieved locally through sport and empowerment.
I don’t want to put a downer on the event; 99.99% of the crowd were totally engaged, giving it some big Rebs energy as the team took to the court. I was appalled though at the site of three primary school kids sitting next to me who didn’t look up from their phones throughout the entire game. ffs.
There was SO much energy out there on the court. A thrilling game of basketball was taking place. Big Dog Ballin was bringing the vibes with the music. Games were taking place in-between play with the wonderful Rebs MC.
But nope. For three kids, two hours was better spent staring at a small screen, pressing buttons and shooting up pixels. It was most depressing tbh. Hey hoe.
But anyway. Back on the court. Rebs races to a 23-15 lead at the end of the first. There was some top quality play taking place out there. Newcastle are no mugs. They took control of the second, leading 43-29 at the break.
The half time entertainment saw some superb dance routines from three different age groups on court. The best performances came from the youngest. They were all primary school age, their trackies swallowed them up, such was their small size. Any doubts I had about ankle biters being stuck on bloody phones disappeared. I believe the children are our future, etc. But still the three pixel fixated kids didn’t look up.
The pace of the game slowed down slightly in the third. Both teams were finding it tough to take a lead. SHOUT OUT to Rebs Captain Claire Paxton, who stepped up with a couple of big three pointers to pull Rebs away.
Everything flowed for the Rebs in the fourth: the passes the shots, the rebounds. Even the decisions from the refs seemed to favour the home team - a rarity at the Arena.
The final scoreline of Rebs 92, Newcastle 79 seemed about fair. The team celebrated in the now customary way of running up and down the stands, high fiving the fans - well, all but three mobile kids who surely must have used up all of their data by now?
This was something of a positive family affair. Many of the Rebs' overseas players had their families over for the event. It was something of a lovely Rebs moments seeing the whole team and their families celebrating together.
Up the Rebs!
“Performances on the pitch do not merit price rises. The running of the club off the pitch does not merit price rises. And the state of society does not merit price rises.”
via Pete Blackbrun
