onionbagblog

Strong Garbage vibes here. No bad thing. It’s not going to win any Ivor Novello awards for songwriting. But the sweeping chord changes built into the melodies are pleasing. It probably plays well in the gym.

⭐ ⭐

‘92 and ‘94 away. I’m not sure about the white kit. It doesn’t quite look right. I did have an original - or maybe that was an earlier white away? Either way, the detail on the sleeve is something that is new to me.

Forest should never wear blue btw. Except during that glorious ‘94-‘95 season, our first back in the PL after a season away. This blue effort always reminds me of Stan. For some reason we associate specific kits with certain players.

A quick shifty at my online file of Forest replicas (yep, it does exist) and OH MY DAYS. I’m up to fifteen. Whoops. As is the case with all collecting, the chase is always better than the thrill.

“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.

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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.”

Thank fuck he’s gone

“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.