Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Time for bed

All five Coles headed to The Guildhall tonight for a private showing of The Magic Roundabout. Well, it wasn’t supposed to be private but we were the only people in the quaint old cinema that still needs new seats. The film was dull, unfunny, confused and a million miles away from the genius of Eric Thompson and his leftfield yet understated voiceovers of my childhood.

I watched the last hour of the soccer international between England and Colombia on our return and I was pleased to see Michael Owen snatch a cleverly taken hat trick and place himself fourth in the list of all-time England goal scorers behind Greaves, Lineker and Charlton. I actually fancy our chances in next summer’s World Cup. We have so many world class centre backs, very fine full backs, a fabulous midfield and, in Rooney and Owen, surely the strongest pair of strikers in world football. The team is settled too. All we need is a top keeper. I’m afraid neither Robinson nor James inspire too much confidence.

Monday, May 30, 2005

Chance meetings

The Coles have spent this afternoon visiting the Woodcraft Folk camp at a farm near Withington, greeting our Hungarian friends and all the other Woodcrafters. It was a chilled out place with few rules and plenty of contentment. I approved. After a five minute stroll though fields and copses we reached our car, loaded up and drove slowly out of the farmyard. A middle-aged woman watched us pull off and as we passed she peered into our vehicle and flashed us a lovely, charming smile and waved in the most friendly of manners. She had no real reason to act with such a kind spirit but it was firmly appreciated. It was Jilly Cooper.

 

I bought Demon Days by Gorillaz earlier and I’m playing it now. I rate anything Damon Albarn does and this album has certainly garnished wondrous reviews. The Guardian states that, first impressions could not be more wrong. Demon Days goes boldly against the current trend for brash immediacy and instead repays time and effort on the part of the listener. Songs that at first sound half-finished, reveal themselves merely to be subtle.’ I ask for nothing more from the music I listen to.

 

I’m meeting S for a pint later this week and he is bringing goodies. I look forward to sampling his Stereolab boxed set and his Fall Complete Peel sessions set too. I’ve got so much new stuff to appreciate right now but, like a drug, I crave more and more sounds to dig.

Sunday, May 29, 2005

We are Devo!

I wish I could be at Twickenham today. I read eagerly on my cable television preview page that Lancashire are playing Devo at headquarters today. I don’t always favour pro-celebrity sporting events but the thought of the hard-nosed, gritty Lancastrians encountering the boiler suited, new-wave pioneers Devo in a union showdown leaves me shuddering with anticipation. What next? Neath/Swansea Ospreys vs. Sparks? Pertemps Bees vs. Scritti Politti?  The mind boggles.

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Blinking Marvellous

I deeply appreciate the new albums by Eels and British Sea Power. Blinking Lights and Other Revelations, which is banging out of my Zen and filling my head as I write this, is a double CD and, I confess, I have only played the first of the two CDs thus far. It is certainly a profound piece, very dark and pensive yet very melodic and pleasing to the ear. Dealing with desperation, depression, neglect and troubled lives, it is not an album for parties but I do admire its intelligence and confidence. The superb reviews it has harvested are deserved. I have vowed to myself to play and grow accustomed to Disc One before tackling the second CD. British Sea Power’s Open Season possesses a bona fide English charm, a raffish whimsy and a lovable eccentricity. It is an album whose mysterious and intriguing soundscapes evoke – for me – bygone eras with its homage to, inter alia, polar explorers and Victoriana. This is an epic set of songs and I recommend it. The single Please Stand Up is a gorgeous Echo-and-the-Bunnymen-cum-Kitchens-of-Distinction influenced four minutes of swaggering pomp. Yum.

The city club has signed Haydn Thomas from Exeter Chiefs. I am unable to recall any other Gloucester player being called Haydn but I hope an Austrian-sounding forename is not this fellow’s unique selling point as I anticipate that a speed of thought and movement and full array of scrum half skills might also accompany our new signing to Kingsholm. I will welcome any ambitious young player of quality to the club and I really hope his challenge to Peter Richards for the nine shirt is productive to both players and to the team. We seem strong in this position with Alex Page, Simon Amor and the breathtaking Ryan Lamb all on the books. We have more fine centres than one can shake a VIP membership for Liquid at as well as two superb outside halves in McRae and Mercier. The boy Lamb can, naturellement, play in both these positions too. We just need to strengthen the back three and our backs are looking good for the new season. The Thinus Delport rumour needs watching therefore.

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Checkmate

We have a pair of Hungarian teenagers staying with us at the moment. I defeated the lad Tomas at chess half an hour ago. He is the second best chess player at his school so I feel mightily pleased. No Eastern European scalp over the black and white squares is to be sniffed at. He wants a rematch later and pathetically I feel slightly nervous. I sort of miss the cut and thrust of competitive chess so maybe I should start wood-pushing again. I had an offer to join the Upton club a few weeks back so perhaps I should take the plunge.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Pumas tame Lions

British and Irish Lions 25 – Argentina 25

It’s funny how you spend all week saying how much you admire these Lions and then, when you go and watch them, you end up wanting them to lose. Of course, I’ll be right behind them when the real deal starts but last night it was difficult to support an outfit that lacked passion and ideas and were outsmarted, outgrunted and outplayed by an under strength Pumas XV that threw everything into the cause. Still, it was a fine atmosphere and an interesting – but not, I feel, historic – occasion and I’m glad I went. The new Lions anthem, screeched by one of those glamorous young opera singers who always seem to pitch up on these occasions, was truly awful. Embarrassing.

Monday, May 23, 2005

Pained

I have mentally entered a bunker in order to stop reading too much about the situation at Gloucester RFC. I have gradually become more and more pained about the leaving of Melville and hope that the decision wasn’t too rash. I think the man deserved a season with a bit more ‘wedge’ behind him to help build a challenging team. My opinion of Tom Walkinshaw is rather low right now. I simply don’t trust the bloke and feel he could be damaging the club. The business with the grandstand was especially embarrassing.

Naturally rumours are plentiful regarding the reasons why Melville left and a few names are being mentioned as potential successors, including Sir Clive Woodward. Woodward would certainly attract ‘names’ to the club but he is used to employing a large backroom team and I don’t think we have sufficient readies to back his needs. We do have a chaplain of course. There’s a start. Frankly, I don’t believe Sir Clive will ever pitch up at Kingsholm. My money remains on Kevin Putt or, maybe, John Kirwan. I just hope we sort things out speedily. Other clubs seem to be recruiting at some pace and I worry that we may be missing out on key signings. I reckon all this business has put the transfer of Big Bob Casey at risk.

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Singing the blues

I enjoyed Wilko Johnson greatly last night. Basically the fellow does five things. He plays such superb blues guitar that one feels the word ‘genius’ is a worthy one. He careers round the stage looking fierce. He ‘aims’ his instrument at the audience and pretends to be shooting them with a machine gun. He attempts a smooth ‘duck walk’ movement that generally comes off. He sings rhythm and blues scorchers in a whining, fairly high-pitched voice. All of the above render him a wonderful artist and one to cherish.

 

It was fine to accompany affable and jaunty S3 to the concert last night although I am still feeling a little tender and wan almost 24 hours after the event. It was a very late night. S3 has helped me fill up a little more space on the near vacuum that is my 40GB of Creative Zen beauty. Today I sat and listened to The Byrds’ Sweethearts of the Rodeo which is a beautiful recording. Later on, if I have time, I have new albums by Eels, New Order and Teenage Fanclub to consume as well as exciting stuff by Ambulance, Brendon Bensons and British Sea Power to explore. My cup, verily, doth overflow.

 

Tomorrow evening I shall be attending the British and Irish Lions play Argentina at the Millennium Stadium. The concept of ‘The Lions’ remains one of my most cherished sporting delights. My eyes regularly mist over when I consider the city club’s Mike Teague crashing through wave after wave of Australian would-be tacklers back in 1989 during that immense summer of bewitching rugby football. I shall be glued to all the Lions action this summer and feel privileged to help give the lads a rousing send-off on the morrow.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

A semblance of credibility

Naturally, the message boards are full of discussion today. Why did Melville go? Was the timing right? Should Ryan have left too? Who will replace the fellow? The pithiest comment I read was that should Sir Clive Woodward take over (unlikely, I admit), how would he manage to pick a team not containing any Gloucester players. Personally, I feel that all conjecture on the part of supporters is utterly expected yet ultimately pointless. Not one of us could do anything more than guess what goes on behind the scenes at Stade Kingsholm. My hopes are that the next appointment brings a semblance of credibility back to the old place. I would think the time is ripe for a hard-nosed Southern Hemisphere type to take the reins. I worry sometimes that a drinking culture thrives at the club and that some players lack the required levels of professionalism. I want this sorted. My other concern right now is that potential signings that were lined up may think again. I am thinking mainly of Big Bob Casey here.

My choice this morning for Director of Rugby was Kevin Putt, a canny old fox who was in charge of Natal until his recent sacking. He has knowledge of the Premiership having played for London Irish and I reckon his knowledge of South African rugby would be useful in attracting possible recruits. However, I note that from online searches that he wasn’t too highly regarded by fans of the Sharks. I also have a nagging doubt about John Kirwan’s credentials but am unable to explain why – just a gut instinct, I guess.

I received my Creative Zen MP3 player yesterday and already have chucked 33 CDs onto the blighter. I love the thing. The sound quality is marvellous and it is very easy to use. I just need to learn how to ‘tag’ untagged tracks and I’ll be fully there. At this point some readers nod sagely while others go, ‘Eh..?’ I have got a 40GB player so the capacity is there for well in excess of 12,000 tracks. This is a cool gadget. This is a cool gadget.

I was so busy ripping CDs last night that I didn’t write anything much on here. I should have, of course, mentioned that it was 25 years ago to the day that Ian Curtis hung himself. I have been playing Unknown Pleasures and Closer a fair bit in recent weeks. They still sound utterly compelling and timeless. The tragedy is that Joy Division could have continued to have made soaring, otherworldly music with Curtis. I wonder what we have missed out on.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Part Company

Nigel Melville parted company with the city today. I wish him well and feel a vague sadness as well a slightly guilty thrill that we might be getting someone new to help the players paint beautiful pictures on the pitch. In my view, Melville was a man of integrity and possessed a fair level of credibility. I fear our chairman possesses neither.

Monday, May 16, 2005

The Joy of 6

I wouldn’t say I’ve fallen out of love with BBC 6Music because I haven’t. I must admit that I do miss Andrew Collins manning the early evening show. I enjoyed his laconic style and laid back wit. He played some cracking records too and, importantly, appeared to love what he was spinning. His enthusiasm was endemic. Steve Lamacq, Collins’ replacement, appears less confident and is, in my opinion, a tad awkward and unnatural. I don’t think the fellow has ever really inhabited ‘the real world’ and exists only for fey indy-pop. Of course he plays other stuff but not with the unbridled joy that Andrew Collins used to.

One show I do admire greatly is Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone, a rare old treat every Sunday evening. Last night he featured a prolific Italian film score composer, Paulo Piccioni and his stuff was fantastic. I dug it. Maconie also played some new Vashti Bunyan music that she has recorded with New York’s Animal Collective for an upcoming EP. It wasn’t the most immediate or catchy sound but according to the keen host, it is a grower. I shall investigate more. The voice sounded beautiful of course.

I’ve signed up to this thing called Collective on the BBC website. It is jam-packed with ‘culture’ and features too many book/CD/gig/film reviews and features to count. I’m not yet sure what my membership entails but it seems an absolute treasure trove of goodies to read and inwardly digest. I’m tempted to submit the bits I’ve penned on these pages about this year’s Go-Betweens and Gang of Four gigs for their concert review section.

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Well, heck...

Saracens 24 – Gloucester 16

We didn’t deserve to win this. I’m embarrassed to consider that Seti Kiole was on the same park as Thomas Castaignede. I was in the queue at the Co-op this morning behind Adam Eustace as he purchased his newspaper of choice. I had nothing to say to the fellow. An ‘Unlucky yesterday, Adam’ would have been hypocritical and untrue. We weren’t in the same class as Saracens and, frankly, on current form, do not merit a place in the Heineken. Here’s to 05/06, eh?

Saturday, May 14, 2005

Heroes

I don’t think the tingle that comes with being in the presence of heroes ever fully leaves one. Take this year for example. In January I stood transfixed by the Gang of Four’s edgy post-punk brew while all the time thinking, Blimey, that’s Andy Gill over there. I sensed a similar frisson at the Millennium Stadium when, bizarrely enough, Ireland ran out to warm up: a glance over at O’Driscoll and a startling thought emerges that I was watching probably the finest rugby player on the planet (apologies, Christo) jog towards me. And I sadly confess to ruminating but a month or so ago that, heck, I was stood eight feet away from the bloke who wrote Everybody’s Happy Nowadays.

Last night I got two heroes for the price of one. Grant McLennan and Robert Forster have been making records with The Go-Betweens since 1978 and, frankly, I don’t believe they’ve made a bad one. This concert showcased the new long player Oceans Apart which is a perfect 40 minutes of soaring pop melodies and the band’s trademark acerbic wit and wisdom. The new songs are lovely. Forster’s Darlinghurst Nights is a beautiful portrait of the swagger of a cerebral youth and that the group, last night, followed this with McLennan’s gorgeous, multi-layered The Statue meant a beautiful ten minutes for the assembled aficionados. This purist delighted in a moving Part Company, a passionate rendition of Draining the Pool for You, a bewitching Cattle and Cane and a lilting Bye Bye Pride to end the evening. Every song was an event. Rarely at a gig, I knew every song well and I can’t recall the last time that happened. This was a great occasion.

It was super to see the two men in action. Forster, a towering dark presence, cut rather a camp figure with his somewhat exaggerated movements. S described him as a quite arch character and thought he resembled Keith Floyd. I reckoned he looked a bit like a slimmer Alan Bates or maybe Gordon Brown. I enjoyed his brooding on-stage persona, staring intently at the audience. McLennan, according to S, was dressed like a 26 year-old. He appeared more relaxed and good-humoured and seemed content to stay out of the spotlight. I greatly admire both these fellows.

Between 12.50 pm and 12.15 am all I consumed was three pints of lager shandy and a packet of Bombay Mix. On returning home I was spent and unwell, a rancid mixture of hunger and rotten heartburn. A cautionary tale here: always have a proper tea before popping to the second city to watch Antipodean pop heroes. The Bombay Mix was a panic buy at Frankley Services and, by heck, I regretted it five hours later.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

I got hired but I got tired of draining the pool for you.

Last night's Glasgow set list includes, I note, the haunting Draining the Pool For You. The Holy Trinity has just become a Fantastic Four. I must phone S to finalise travel arrangements for Friday evening.

I am, as the week progresses, becoming more and more excited about Gloucester's battle against Saracens on Saturday that will confirm the winner's place in next season's Heineken Cup. I can kid myself ad nauseum that I'm not really bothered which competition Gloucester play in. I can come over all high and mighty and pronounce that on current form, the city don't really deserve to dine at the top table of European football. However, the bottom line remains that I love this noble club and want them to win at Twickenham for the sake of pride and, frankly, to be where we belong next term. Come on Gloucester.

The messageboards remain full of spite and nastiness after the club ditched its plans to build a new grandstand in the summer a few weeks after that Walkinshaw fellow, dressed in what looked like a bin liner, passionately announced its arrival in front of an adoring (forgiving? stupid?) popular enclosure. Essentially I can't raise too much displeasure. I'd rather play to a packed 13,000 for a season, rebuild on the pitch after a blissful recruitment campaign for new uberstars and continue to enjoy my rugby football. Having been attending games since 1978 my philosophy of GRFC supporting is well-honed: enter ground, meet friends, laugh, chat, cheer on team, have a pint, go home. It's amazing how well that works. Despairing about unbuilt viewing areas is ne'er on the agenda.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

It's...

It’s Go-Betweens week on these pages. Last evening’s Brighton set list is up on the worldwide web and I note that most of the new album will be played as well as some old classics. The Holy Trinity of Spring Rain, Cattle and Cane and Bye Bye Pride gets an airing. Hurrah!

My new Creative Zen MP3 player is on order – well, I’ve asked a chum who is going to be in the States at the weekend to buy me one. I’ll be able to store roughly 8000 tracks on the blighter – about 750 albums worth I guess. I’ll start by loading my favourites and then widen my horizons. There’s so much new stuff – a bit of jazz, some world music, more reggae - I want to get into and learn about and this device will give me more time to listen to sounds. I’d anticipate taking it to work, listening in the car and during free time.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Some stuff about The Go-Betweens on the Radio?

Hats off to the dude who dreamt up the ‘Listen Again’ feature that adorns BBC online radio. For a week or so one can play stuff that one has missed and quite often there are nuggets to be found. Today I have returned home from work and been able to listen to a session The Go-Betweens recorded for BBC 6Music’s Gideon Coe show yesterday. The interviews are wonderful. Grant McLennan sounds like Michael Lynagh or maybe a youthful Eddie Charlton with his kindly, measured tones. Robert Forster sounds a bit tougher and I would have it no other way. Both fellows, despite their intellect and worldliness, speak with that strange Australian habit of making every sentence sound like a question? I added a question mark erroneously at the end of the last sentence just so you can try that way of speaking at home? There, I’ve done it again? It is called ‘Australian questioning intonation’ and Stephen Fry (the greatest living Englishman?) once put it into Room 101.

The songs they played were lilting and fine.

With Friday’s Birmingham gig in mind I’m trawling the net to find a set list from their first gig of the current tour which was in Brighton last night. No luck so far but judging by their last concert in Australia we might be in for a blast of The House Jack Kerouac Built, Spring Rain as well as the recent favourite Surfing Magazines.

The guy who wrote television’s 24 is a huge Go-Betweens fan it seems and named a tower block The McLennan-Forster Building. Apparently the character played by Kiefer Sutherland says it all the time.

By hook, or, verily, by crook, I should be the proud owner of an iPod within the next week. Actually I favour a competitor of said item, the Creative Zen MP3 player which has gathered super reviews and seems easy enough to use. I know S has pooh-poohed the whole idea but I like the idea of carting round one’s entire record collection. I’m quietly excited.

I won’t be going to the Wildcard Final this Saturday. On Friday evening I shall be visiting the aforementioned Go-Betweens and on Saturday evening there is a ‘do’ to attend in Gloucester. There is, frankly, only so much excitement a man can take so the rugby trip has been sacrificed. I shall watch proceedings keenly via Sky’s telecast facility.

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Playing the Wild Card

Gloucester 23 - Newcastle Falcons 16

This was a gritty, determined performance from the Cherry and Whites and, it has to be stated, a match we would probably have lost on the form of six or seven weeks ago. There seems a greater spirit in the team in recent weeks and a great deal of this is down to the return of the no-nonsense McRae at ten who, today, dug deep and sniped away at the Falcons in the second half to carve a rugged victory for the home fifteen. Plenty of other players merit a mention. Adam Balding led from the front bravely and with passion. He carries the ball with vigour and is never content until every last inch has been gained from his possession of it. Adam Eustace appears to have grown in stature in the last few weeks and is putting in more disciplined and mature performances as a result. I enjoy the centre pairing of Simpson-Daniel and Forrester, a lively couple of wires who are always going to create chances. The boy Forrester knows the way to the try line and his brace today proved crucial. The front row won the spoils for the city this afternoon. Nicholas Wood continues to impress, Mefin Davies was his usual consistent self and Gary Powell snatched the man of the match award for his fine all round play.

It was interesting to watch the match on television and witness Mr Tindall sat with Mr Vickery outside a hospitality box. Next season will be fascinating with four new signings – five if one includes the lad Allen, a centre of huge promise it seems - all capable of adding so much to our promising team. The names of Hernandez and Casey keep popping up and if they, too, were added to our roster then we would have a squad to rival that of our league and cup double winning season. I’m reasonably ambivalent about the whole Wildcard scene but feel that our sixth place does merit a Heineken berth. With a stronger bunch of players at the ‘holm for 05/06 I hope we can clinch a win against Saracens next weekend.

Saturday, May 07, 2005

zzzzzzz

I have had two contrasting evenings of sleep. On Thursday night I slept not one minute and was still strolling home through deserted city streets and avenues at 4.30 am after a very busy and exciting evening. Last night I feel asleep on the settee at eight, was covered by a sleeping bag and slumbered there, log-like, for twelve solid and dream-free hours. Today I feel more refreshed and sharp.

I can’t think of too many other occasions when I have not gone to bed all night. Perhaps I have taken a distorted view of events – no doubt for the worst reasons of self-publicity and self-acclaim – but I have managed to convince myself that as a youth I once stayed up for two consecutive nights. An exuberant night on a cross-channel ferry boat was followed by an all-night clubbing session in an unsleeping Berlin. I was 19 and one half and would have been clad only in black and grey. I’m sure C will fire off a volley and tell me that I really crossed the briny lying supine in a recliner, snoring energetically and that I remained at our hotel the next evening with a cup of cocoa from room service for company.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

In la Brisa de la Palma a teenage Rasputin takes the sting from a gin

My word, the new Go-Betweens’ album Oceans Apart is a beautiful work of art. As I pen this I’m enjoying its multi-layered cleverness and tender charms and subtle melodies. It really is rather special. I love so many things about this combo. Robert Forster’s lyrics always bring a wistful smile to this grateful punter; it’s the ‘way he tells ‘em’ too, the laconic delivery, a posh Australian accent, I guess I’d call it, adds a lot to the enjoyment of the songs. I really like Darlinghurst Nights, a song about the discovery of an old notebook that evokes the lofty ambitions of youth. The Statue is my other favourite right now, a soaring melody and thoughtful, uplifting words from the McCartney to the acerbic Forster’s Lennon, the more poppy and optimistic Grant McLennan. I'm glad I own this recording. It remains - an historical note here - possibly the only album I've ever bought in Stroud.

Monday, May 02, 2005

A snake in the grass

A nasty migraine – the second this week – has dampened the Bank Holiday euphoria but a good night’s sleep should serve me well. Like London buses, one doesn’t suffer for a while but then two come along in close succession.

I began to ail walking across fields on the way back to the car from Belas Knap, a superbly preserved long barrow set in marvellous and beautiful countryside near Winchcombe. Belas Knap is over 4500 years old and a place of mystery and wonder. The Coles marvelled at a startling find by a dry stoned wall just a metre or two from the burial chamber. For the first time in my life I witnessed an adder in the wild basking in the late spring sunshine. It was a remarkable sight and one that certainly made the pulse race just a little more quickly.

The rugby season is almost over. This coming Sunday we need to defeat Newcastle Falcons to qualify for a Wildcard Final against either Saracens or Worcester who play off on the Friday night. I fancy us to beat Newcastle. I was reasonably contented with our form on Saturday and I’m confident the city’s young guns like Morgan and Wood will enjoy a crack at a Twickenham final, albeit not the one we would have desired at the start of the season. I hope Saracens defeat Worcester later this week. Worcester are a form team and may prove too strong for Gloucester as things stand now.

Sunday, May 01, 2005

Ambush at the College Arms

Gloucester 13 – Saracens 13

This was a disappointing result but disappointing for all the right reasons. This was not a capitulation from a team lacking spirit but a gritty team performance that deserved more. The disappointment I felt at no-side was because the city could have won this fixture.

Of course this was a strange encounter. Gloucester are recruiting hard and I suggest that the make-up of next season’s fifteen will be much changed from yesterday’s mixture of has-beens, never-will-bes and future stars. Two nippers caught the eye. Luke Narroway, replacing Andrew Hazell early on, was a thorn in Saracens’ side all afternoon and blazed away for the home side’s cause relentlessly. He was my man of the match and certainly one for the future. Oliver Morgan – also The Observer’s Industrial Correspondent, I note today – looked an elegant young so-and-so with ball in hand and took his try well. He was obviously thrilled. I would chuck him the 15 shirt for Sunday’s Wildcard semi final against Newcastle. A bouquet, too, for Adam Eustace who put in a committed, mature display and impressed this supporter especially as I’ve been rather dismayed recently with his level of performance and lack of discipline.

On to next season and I look forward to Mercier returning. We have missed his long range punting and ability to provide a platform for many a victory with his place kicking. Tindall, Collazo and Richards are all clever signings; not one of them could be called a journeyman and my word, we’ve all despaired at a fair few of them in recent months. Bob Casey, the London Irish lock is the latest name linked to Gloucester. The fellow has enjoyed a superb season at Reading and would be just the sort of skilled operator we need. He is a big lump too. We need his type at Kingsholm.

It was good to sup a few pints after the match both in the Deans and then in the cosy, comforting surrounds of the CafĂ© Rene. En route to ‘the Caff’, A, D and I were ambushed by a distressed and rather disturbing ‘W’, an old school colleague who was shambling in a malevolent manner around the environs of the College Arms. We paused to listen patiently to a vaguely incoherent rant about the alleged rebranding of GRFC into the ‘Gloucester Reds’. ‘W’ maintained that this would cause confusion for the uninitiated who might confuse the rugby club with Gloucester-based branches of Liverpool FC or Manchester United FC supporters. It was a passionate argument but I have encountered more intelligent debate, it has to be said. We scurried on after the encounter with the occasional concerned backward glance.