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Hip Hop straight from the south side! Tonight!

"Law and Economics" - by Trenton Kashima

I once told my friend that I would guest write one article for his blog, this is my attempt to honor that promise. I quickly read over Prof. Christensen’s article, “How Will You Measure Your Life?” between my studies. The lessons of this article cannot be understated for professionals. Much of my law school orientation dealt with how your legal career will intersect with your personal life and your ethics and values.

As I start dividing my time between my various academic commitments, I find myself asking some basic economic questions (although I didn’t recognize they were economic in nature at the time), "what are the opportunity costs of the time I spend in moot court or class or studying?" Generally the answer to these questions is simple, the opportunity costs are the things that make up the life I live. But we go without for the promises that the future may be brighter.
This is a recipe for isolation and discontent, but is it not worth it temporarily for greater professional gains in the future? This question is simple but surprising deceptive, it presumes that these losses will be temporary; they only are but investments for future gains. Often, however, they are not. The externalities of these decisions are ever present, and impossible for which to account.

Nothing illuminates these existential problems more than the ability to step away from one's life for an extended period of time. This is something that is incidental to studying abroad. It removes you from your life. You are thrown into a different culture with different people in a different place. And generally the less extensive academic and personal demands allows you to take stock of your life back home.
This is one of Maastricht's, and in part Portugal's, (with all the people I met along the way) meanings for me. It was an opportunity to take stock and re-orientate my priorities. On the other hand it was bittersweet. It also highlighted the areas of my life which I have negligence greatly, and continue to negligence. It takes great power of will to overcome the inertia for your past habits. Yet this is life, it is our regrets and follies that make us human and interesting.

So my advice to anyone mirrors those expressed in this article, be sure to allocation your energies with your personal priorities and values in mind, not just your professional goals. Don’t fall into the trap. However remember, you need not be completely successful at this task, even attempts and failures will guarantee you will become a better person.

Trent Kashima

"How will you measure your life?"

Yesterday, while I was reading the Harvard Business Review magazine I came across one of the most inspiring articles I’ve read lately. Clayton M. Christensen, one of the most celebrated Harvard Business School professors, wrote a very powerful essay – “How Will You Measure Your Life?” – that quickly became one of the most resonant works Harvard Business Review has ever published. The article is based on Christensen deep knowledge and experience, and makes the call for having a strategy and a purpose in your life. Christensen was diagnosed with cancer almost one year ago and he is now in a rehabilitation phase after an intense period of medical treatment. His inspiring words are clearly from someone who has set his priorities right and values life over any other professional achievement.

The article was made available online for free by the Harvard Business Review until the end of October. Take my word, it’s worth reading, even more if your academic background is related with business.

You can read the article HERE.

C.C.M.

Tribute to one of the oldest bands that is still around!! I'm looking forward for a night of classics!

The Expendables

I think I never went to the movies with such low expectations as I did for The Expendables. I was expecting something bad, but just for the fun of it I still decided to watch in the big screen. It’s bad. It’s really bad actually… Endless clichés, explicit and exaggerated violence in the action scenes and a super basic storyline. Back when I was 10 years old, I would go crazy if somebody told me that I could see Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger starring in the same scene, even if only for a couple of minutes. Well, it was not the case at all. The cast sure has some classic names of action movies, but this movie is far far away from being a classic.

Stallone, my friend, you had your time as an actor, so do everybody a favor and stop this director/actor non-sense. If you were never a top actor, believe me, you won’t make it as a director.

DESTRUCTION PARTYYY!

You know what to expect when Mr. Miyagi is on stage! Beer in the air and skates rollin' over your heads!

DESTRUCTION PARTYYY!!!!

Kick Ass

Based on a Mark Millar’s comic book, Kick Ass is an interesting super heroes’ movie. A super hero without super powers, that’s what this movie is all about. A geeky teenager that sets himself to be a super hero just by using a crazy outfit and wandering in New York’s streets hoping to find situations in which he can be the hero of the day. But be careful now, if you’re expecting just some idiotic comedy mixed with meaningless action scenes, this is not it! There’s more into this movie than actually meets the eye. Both the pseudo super heroes interpreted by Aaron Johnson and Nicolas Cage are the expression of two unlikely but possible personas in today’s society – a teenager consumed by comic books and a strong will to make a mark in the society, and a retired cop willing to do anything to take a drug lord out of the business and avenge his wife’s death. By the way, it was good to see Nicolas Cage back to a more decent role in a movie. I don’t remember the last time I was satisfied with one of his performances.

Some may say the movie is too violent, others may say that the contents are sometimes way too explicit for the kind of movie this one pertains to be. Well, I say this is a very entertaining movie that kind of surprised me. I’m just sorry I couldn’t get my hands on a copy of the comic book before watching it.

One week out!

See you all next week! It's time to chill with the boys!!

"Fado - História de um Povo"

“Fado – História de um Povo” is a musical by Filipe La Feria now playing in the “Casino do Estoril”. The play tells us the story of Fado from its very beginning in the 19th century until its biggest modern symbol in Portugal – Amalia Rodrigues. The musical is organized in a way that allows you to understand the several influences that Fado had until it became what it is today. Throughout the show several tributes to Fado singers are made but unfortunately many of them I couldn’t recognize. Still, there were also several names that I knew – Maria Severa, Alfredo Marceneiro, Ary dos Santos, Carlos do Carmo and of course Amália Rodrigues.
The cast is superb and the dynamic of the show is simply amazing. There’s always so much going on in the show with the artists on stage, people coming from below the stage, or even dancers descending from the ceiling right on top of our heads. The scenarios, costumes and all the accessories used are also brilliantly created.

I would recommend this musical to every Fado lover, and for those who are not big fans of the genre, it’s a very good way to get some knowledge on the music that represents the roots of the Portuguese people.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

It’s just amazing the way they turned the most famous single-player platform game into a clever, fun and addictive multi-player game. Yes it’s true, the multi-player here is only an option, and you don’t have to play it if you don’t want to, but believe me, the fun is multiplied by 1 million if you play this game with your friends. Expect the traditional 2D Mario gameplay that made this character the most famous plumber in the world, lots of power ups, hidden secrets and the usual boss fights at the end of each world. Even though we can make use of the “continues” when you get a game over, don’t think this is an easy game to beat, actually it kind of requires a good amount of skill for you to beat all the levels! The graphics are the way they should be, with nicely polished and animated scenarios, and the sound effects are just brilliantly adapted to every situation in the game.

It’s the old school Super Mario at its best level!

Neon Genesis Evangelion - The End of Evangelion

Ok, now we’re talking!! This is what I call an ending! If you didn’t watch the episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion, forget about this anime movie. If you watched them, and you liked the last 2 episodes, think before watching this movie as it will change the way you look at Evangelion’s ending. If you watched the episodes and you felt disappointed with the ending just like I did, than this movie is just what you’re looking for!

The movie takes off after the 24th episode, and it takes you 1 minute to realize that everything is different now. I’m not going to make the spoiler alert as I’m not going to focus on the story here. I’ll just say that instead of a bunch of recycled scenes, in this ending we get back to the action, and you’re finally able to understand some of the missing pieces that put the whole story together. The animation is of very high quality with clear improvements when compared with the TV episodes. The main character – Shinji – is still the biggest wooss ever created for an anime, but to compensate for this wimp, I finally got to understand all the fuss around Asuka – one of the other main characters. Asuka stars in one of the best action scenes I’ve ever watched in the anime world!

I’m sure that if Anno Hideaki had created this ending for the original series, he would have avoided the tons of criticism he received. Violent, psychologically intense, disturbing, and highly emotional… That’s Neon Genesis Evangelion alright!