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.