Decisions, decisions, decisions....

It's reaching that hard time in my life where my education is starting to end, and my life is starting to actually begin. Having just started my last year at Uni, having already defeated the last 2 years, this year has been thrust upon me like nobody's business. And as we all know, the final year means something that brings fear to even the most literate of us.....a 10,000 word dissertation. Now this dissertation you could say was pretty important. As much as I wouldn't like to, I have to say it is as well, so here comes the task of trying to find a topic related to criminology which I would like to spend the next year of my life researching, writing, re-writing and finishing my degree with. Bleak.

Now after this whirlwind of tears, hundreds of pounds worth of ink cartridges and plenty of pesky paper cuts, it comes the task of which many a graduate has now got to go through, developing tough skin and getting used to the sad face of rejection. In an attempt to climb up this slippery ladder, I am already in the process of applying for a job for an unnamed, somewhat large company. So finger's crossed, this time next year I will be nicely suited and booted in a cheeky M&S pin-striped suit, feeling like one of those snotty city blokes.

Having run out of fingernails through the constant chewing due to the stress of the present situation, its been a relief to be half way through the Rugby World Cup, although my sleep-deprived state may have been of a consequence to the ridiculous kick-off times. So far my boy Ashton is leading the scorer charts, which means I might I actually win a bet for once (although I'm not counting my chickens yet) and the prospect of England making it through to at least the semi's, based on a hopeful win over the Frogs, after they were just taught a lesson by those pesky Tongans. All in all it's been a pretty standard England performance. Turn up for the last 10 mins, score a lucky try and scrape through by the skin of your teeth, and it has to be said that as much as we do love our English lion Johnny Wilkinson, he is having what most would assess as a right Weston-Super (Mare).
In real life, for my new club its 2 wins from 3 which I have to say I'm happy with. It's always nice to have the smell of deep heat up the nostrils and the tangles of tape stuck to me on a saturday afternoon again.  Still no luck when it comes to tries, however I did get to within a metre of the line before being bundled into touch which in my opinion should definitely have earned at least half a try for the pure effort.

In these "dark days" there are always a few things that get me by. For one, this absolute cracker of an eighties tune which for those with taste, you may recognise from Stepbrothers, which itself is a another thing that never evades causing me a stitch in the side and a memory full of one-liners.

The second in particular happened this very afternoon. This indeed was the spectacular results that was Spurs 2-1 win against the french scum that is Arsenholes. On previous meetings it appears the tide has definitely turned and we are now the kings of North London. That just bought a single tear to my eye I'm not going to lie.

Now finally, it comes to what has been playing on my ipod over the last few weeks. My personal favourite (which will be to no surprise to anyone who has read this blog previously) at the moment is Brendan's Death Song by yep you guessed it... The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

As well as this, as it has been a fair few weeks since my last recommendation, I leave you with this absolute club banger of a tune which really shows how colourful the spanish are (when they are not napping, sleeping, or sitting doing nothing for vast majorities of the day.) This is Loca people by Sak Noel. What the f*** Jonny?

As usual thank you for reading and as usual It's been emotional :)

It's Haka Time...

       It's been just under 4 years since that night in the Stade de France where England fought so galantally against an undefeated South African side, to which it eventually ended 15-6 to the boks, although it was wrapped in controversy over the decision to chalk off Mark Cueto's try in the 42nd minute. Now 4 years later it all kicks off again, hosted by the fierce All Blacks. Now my problem with this is that it makes the times of the games happen at ridiculous hours, disturbing my beauty sleep with kick off times such as 7:30  on a saturday morning. However, I do remain excited like a small child in a sweet shop and some would say hopelessly optimistic that England will pull off a shock win to bring the World Cup back to these shores. I mean who knows, we have Johnny Wilkinson back at 10 and in good form, so what are the chances that history could be repeated and that he swipes a cheeky drop goal in the last minute against a rampant New Zealand team in the final on the 23rd of October. Paddypower have given us odds of 16/1 to win which I think must be worth a naughty £10 with Chris Ashton 18/1 to be top try scorer even worth a cheeky fiver.

         Now more importantly it is the start of the rugby season for yours truly, and a new start for a new team. This heralds the unfortunate return of what I like to call the "bus effect" which as all rugby players will know, is the feeling you get when you wake up the next morning feeling like you have been hit by a bus, although there is something strangely satisfying about this (I'm not one of those pain-loving weirdoes honestly). After what can only be described as an "injury-plagued" season last year, I can't to strap myself and get beaten the shit out of on a regular occasion once again, and hopefully we can have a bit of success as that always makes the black eyes, broken limbs and destroyed livers worth it at the end of the season.

Now a final verdict on the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album.....(drum roll please)....IT'S A GROWER
Other than pretty much listening to the album on repeat, there are some definite tunes on it. My particular favourites are: Monarchy of Roses, Factory of Faith, Ethiopia and Brendan's Death Song. And I have to say I genuinely enjoy the album, even if its not classic chilis and is a bit different.

As usual my football manager update. After securing back-to-back promotions for league 2 into the Premiership, we managed to secure a 6th placed finish as well as winning the league cup. I also added to my record of winning the Manager of the Year every year in each division. I know what your thinking... Why haven't I been snapped up yet? My job offer must be in the post. Bloody Royal Mail...


And finally my song of the week...gone a bit dupsteppy with Guilt by Nero:

That's it for all, so as usual, It's been emotional.

I'm With You...

This morning, something special landed on my doorstep (and no I haven't got a dog). It was the long-awaited, pre-ordered new album of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (see previous blogs for the excitedness of being able to see them and the admiration for them..blah,blah,blah). Now I have to say after hearing the single I was hesitant to say the least, and with no John Frusciate you can never be too careful at what they are going to deliver. Now I am no critically acclaimed music reviewer, but I have to say that I was disappointed is summing it up to say the least. Now this  album (I'm with You) doesn't really sound chili-ish and does have a completely different sound. After one listen through I can safely say there are no under the bridge's, californication's or dani california's. On second listen though it does seem to click a bit more and become more enjoyable, and I would say it is definitely a grower. Tracks such as Monarchy of Roses and Ethiopia stand out in particular, although it does give the impression of being a bit samey if I was being completely ruthless. I would by no means write it off though, but excuse me whilst I sit in a room with a cd player on repeat until I love it.

Now in other news, it has also been the long-awaited return of the football season, and what can be a greater start for my team's first game to be called off because of the riots. Let's be honest it was probably a blessing in disguise, although it would of been better if Spurs could have recorded a win against notorious slow starters Everton. However, you really could not argue with a 5-0 drubbing of Hearts in the Europa League as a bad start to the season, but you could be aggrieved at getting a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Man. Utd. and 0-0 draw with Hearts in the second leg. If i was to use a word to describe the opening gambit for the season it would be meh... There is definitely room for improvement, although we did look pretty awesome in the 5-0 drubbing of Hearts, you could argue we are playing the scottish alternative to a Barnsley/Doncaster but that's an issue for another day. A particular highlight of this week for me has been the loan signing of a completely un-confronational and clean-cut player in Emmanuel Adebayor. Now somehow I do not think this will go down well with the Spurs faithful, mainly because he played for the Arseholes (sorry Arsenal) the other side of North London. The hatred for him previously can perhaps be summed up by the chanting of "Adebayor, his dad cleans elephants and his mums a whore" which would be understandable if he was on the opposition, but this was occurring in a UEFA cup qualifier against some Eastern European opposition (AK47 or something). Now despite this, I believe he brings something that we cannot get from the beanpole that is Crouch and the sulky Russian that is Pavlyuchenko and that is GOALS, which we definitely need.

Now despite being snubbed by many real clubs, I have managed to forge a further successful career on FM11, this time as sleeping giant's Bradford City in league 2. After 2 seasons and 2 successive promotions, they are sitting comfortably in the championship, so now tell me why does no-one take my amazing managerial record seriously?  Nightmare...

Might as well make this a regular feature, so my song of the week is No Church In The Wild by Jay-Z, Kanye West and featuring Frank Ocean:

Hope you enjoy it, and as usual it's been emotional.

Oh dear Oh dear Oh Dear.....

Well it's finally happened and you can't say we haven't been warned....the sun came out ( a little bit), oh and also there's been this stuff about riots? Don't know if you've heard about it? Well we can't surely be surprised that it happened seeing that the Kaiser Chiefs predicted it in 2004. On the plus side of these riots, it means people are going to be able to get cut price goods off ebay as well as the fact that the job centre queue is going to be considerably less, however there are the terrible effects left behind by these thugs who, for the most part, are on their school holidays. It should be the parents that should be addressed as they are just sitting back watching their offspring destroy property and lives for no reason other than greed and mindless stupidity.
Now I understand that it is a bit drastic but the British Army is there to protect Britain and its allies, so why can we not have the army as a presence on the streets to stop these mindless attacks as at the moment there is no end in sight, other than when these dickheads have filled out their living rooms with new gear. A positive aspect to have arisen from an otherwise horrible situation is that of the old British community spirit which has developed in aid of the mass clear up, and shows that we still have such a community which will work together and help each other through such torrid times.
It is still worth mentioning the quality of work the emergency services have put in throughout these tough times and in particular the way of which the Police service has reacted and dealt with the situation at hand, despite them being the apparent "cause".

Now on a lighter note the football league finally kicked off on Saturday, which means as usual West Ham lost (lovely) and I lost money on my weekly accumulator (standard). The premier league kicks off on Saturday with Spurs handed a tricky first game at home to Everton which should be challenging, although it is most likely to be postponed based on this week's event. I'm hoping for a decent season for spurs although there has been a distinct lack of action in the transfer market, I can still see us getting a cheeky top-6 finish, which coupled with the continued downfall of Arsenal would be a successful campaign in my eyes.

Now in the world of fm11, I have just become somewhat of a Hearts legend after securing the Scottish double, winning the SPL and the Scottish cup and would of made it a treble had it not been for defeat to Celtic in the semi-final. I should have definitely applied for the vacant Hearts job in real life last week as I should have been odds-on favourite for it had they seen my amazing record.

Ah well...the hunt for a real career continues and if only I had gone in to the bandana business last week I would be laughing. Now as to leave it on a more cheery note, my song of the week is by Maverick Sabre and is a quality little tune so have a listen:

Now rugby training awaits so for now it's been emotional.

The Last Month of "Summer"....

So as we draw into August, the last month of summer (although this year I'm not actually sure when the first month was) and the sun has actually decided to make an appearance, although it still appears rather shy hiding behind the clouds and poking out so often for a breather. Its a sad fact that we are now only 5 months away from Christmas and a bit more until 2012 and our apparent downfall. Oh well, something for me to look forward to this week was being able to get tickets to go see Red Hot Chili Peppers in Manchester, which resulted in running around the room like a little child and then realising that Manchester was actually quite a distance from Essex, although 3 hours in a car is nothing compared to the the fact that I will be in the same room (albeit a big one) as my boyhood idols, thus fulfilling my dream. Now the countdown to Monday 14th November begins (104 days and counting).

In other August-related news, it is unfortunately the month that my car has decided it needs tax and insurance, meaning the wallet ammunition earnt from countless overtime at Voldemort's palace goes straight into the pocket of both the taxman and after going through the constant cycle of looking at car insurance comparison sites (including ones advertised by a dickhead with a dodgy moustache, a meerkat and an annoying song by a scottish lass), most likely Admiral , although after endless comparisons I still have to fork out quite a lot. Freedom definitely has its price.

In other news, I have recently discovered a work of genius by a now deceased country and western legend by the name of Johnny Cash. Now this song isn't exactly going to cheer you up after the horrible weather we're having, but it definitely sends a powerful message which is sent across by the beautiful, gravelly tones of the iconic Cash.

If you are/have listening/listened to that song, you might be feeling a bit more depressed than when you started so why not cheer yourself up with the song made by the almighty douche that is Joey Essex

Or not. It's really not as reem as he makes it out to be to be honest.

Oh and as usual the round up of my football manager game, Hearts are on target for a treble winning season and for the first time in about 20 years get Rangers and Celtic off the top of the league winners list. Definitely worth putting on the CV I think.

Now as it is quite nice outside, I'm going to go find some stupid trousers and a Michael Jackson glove and go play Golf, so for now
It's been emotional.

The return of my heros...

Its been a lovely summer week in July, which as usual means the constant downpour of rain, grey clouds and general collective misery. So what was supposedly meant to perk up the last week was the long awaited return of my favourite band The Red Hot Chili Peppers (and more specifically the bassist/mentalist that is Flea) and their new single The Adventures of Maggie May.

Now it has been a long time in making, a whole 4 years since Stadium Arcadium and a whole lot of time for reflection and for wearing out the repeat button on my Ipod playing the Chilis back log repeatedly. In that time they must of been listening to the musical genius (said with hesitation) of Michael Jackson, who in a song that is apparently quite well known said "it's time to make a change", and certainly a change was made.
 It could be argued (little bit of essay writing sentence starting for you there) that the catalyst for most of the Red Hot Chili Peppers classics (Under the Bridge, Californication, Dani California etc. etc. etc.) was down to the axeman and all-round hippy look-a-like John Frusciate who decided to call it a day and concentrate on his solo career instead on work on the new album. After listening to the single on repeat hoping it was a grower, the lack of the Frusciate influence was clear and single just lacks Red Hot Chili Pepper-ness, other than the funky bass line that Flea slaps out (although I have a biased opinion personally). After its 60-odd views over the past 3 days, it just isn't right and gives me the feeling that there will never be another Under the Bridge, although I have already pre-ordered the album in the hope that another classic will spring up, although I wish they had listened to a cheeky bit of the rapper known as Tupac who said "some things will never change". Oh how I wish this was true.

In other news, I've managed to win another cup with Hearts on Football Manager 2011 so I think its definately worth putting on my CV now. You never know, they might be impressed with my dedication to the cause of a simulated football management game. More likely, it will be quickly made into Shredder fodder. More importantly the need for a life-plan is probably more important, although the amount of overtime being done at Voldemort's gaff is giving me some wallet ammunition, I still need to find a "proper job". The back up plan of being a professional poker player went up in flames after what can only be described as an amateur performance the other night, which led to a re-buy in after 10 minutes and a 5th out of 7th finish which means I'm back to the drawing board for now..looks like I'll be sending an audition tape to The Only Way is Essex, although I'm not sure I'm at the Ream standard.

I'm going to go get a fake tan and a pair of budgie smugglers so I can try and fit in with the Vajazzle crowd so for now it's been emotional.

Nice to meet you...

As you may have gathered, I am RobboRevla and I'm a student approaching my final year of the course and the so called prime of my life, in my words reality. Now with a criminology degree, the assumption was a nice easy ride into the police service, a career I aspire to and would accept straight away if it was offered to me. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that with 30,000 police cuts in the next 4 years, it looks like I would be queuing up at the job centre on a drizzly Thursday morning to pick up my dole money, a situation that really does not appeal to me in the slightest. This led to the question of what to do instead? Based on my interests I'm looking at becoming either an International Rugby player of footballer. Now to be honest, my frame is not quite the agile footballer type so going to have to be a pro rugby player, especially with the World Cup beckoning (something that excites me greatly), although the step up from Thurrock 3's on a saturday afternoon to an International stage could be a bit too much, but we'll see how it goes. The other alternative is to become a football manager. Now my CV is pretty impressive, Back to back promotions, championships, cups, although somehow I don't think this is quite impressive when I say this has all been on Football Manager 2011 rather than the real world, although sometimes I feel I can do a better job than those in the profession. As a big Homes Under The Hammer fan (BBC 1, 10 AM), it appeals to me greatly to go into the property game with the idea of casually going to an auction, buying a cheap house in Burnley or Derby, chucking on a few coats of Dulux and selling it off for a massive profit. Somehow, this is out of my reach as well I fear, although becoming an estate agent holds great appeal to me and something that I have looked into, although I don't think this would be widely accepted by my family, especially by my Dad who threatened to disown me after I worked at an estate agents for my work experience when I was 14. As they say, its a big world out there, one with many opportunities of which even my pessimism can't hold me back from and in reality I'm sure I'm not too far away from finding something I will enjoy. If not, there's always the large retailer (from now  it shall be known as Voldemort as its the one that cannot be named) I currently work at doing my 13 hours a week...actually where's the job centre?

Oh and while I'm here, might as well advertise my twitter account ;) follow me at twitter.com/robbo91revla

For now, It's been emotional