Why "break a leg"?

Goodluck! Thank you, why not just use these polite word commonly know to people in all walks of life old and young, rich and poor. A more popular word is used to substitute this meaning of well wishes towards performing artist whether theater or musicians or even in sports play. "Break a leg". Do we really know what to tell our 10 year old daughter "break a leg" just before she goes to perform a dance or act in a musical infront of her school. These words are said to mean goodluck in these context when use, but we must very becareful in the sense that - the thing about history is  that we were not around when these words and other events happened. We are lead by often a third person viewer prospective or historians where messages could have been filtered down or even changed.

Regardless the word "break a leg" may just have been opposite of to the meaning we know today.

People in theatre consider it bad luck to wish an actor good luck, so instead they wish the opposite, by saying "break a leg!"

On October 1, 1921 in the New Statesman, a British liberal political and cultural magazine, an article was published, "A Defence of Superstition", written by urbane Irish nationalist Robert Wilson Lynd. Lynd said that the theatre was the second-most superstitious institution in England, after horse racing. In horse racing, Lynd asserted, to wish a man luck is considered unlucky, so "You should say something insulting such as, 'May you break your leg!'" Lynd did not attribute the phrase in any way to theatre people, though he was familiar with many of them.

So next time you tell somebody break a leg make sure is not someone you care about or just replace the 3 worded sentence with goodluck.

An Entrepreneur Needs Faith

My pick for best entrepreneur movie goes to "the PURSUIT of HAPPYNESS" starring Will Smith. No other movie provides for me a more real life touching story and attributes that an entrepreneur must possess to succeed in business. What sells this movie the most is the fact that this salesman turned homeless most important resource was himself. The challenges that Chris Gardner (Will Smith) was faced with would have destroyed the moral of many men. The aspect of FAITH is rarely mention as an attribute in developing a successful entrepreneur. Chris faith "'the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen"-- propelled him to succeed. An attribute which all of mankind may have the capability to display/achieve it, but life has its ways of erasing such ambitions.

Stop It Already - We don't Want to be Entrepreneurs (COMM3248)

Well at least in the Caribbean we don't. How many of us go to school because we want to become an ENTREPRENEUR, really? Lets be honest majority go to school, Universities that is to further our already gain secondary level of  education. In hope of being more marketable for employment, getting an increase salary depending on the level of our degree and even because everyone else is doing it. The harsh realities of life make it difficult for us to even fund upward education due to financial situation or lack of scholarships in certain areas. Not drifting anymore from the point at hand, if you ask anyone person employed in the work force or a university student about career goals--a good percentage will answer if the line "I want to be my own boss"

Do we go to school if that logic in mind, if so why even bother to go to a university spend thousands of dollars to fund your education and then at the end go sit in a 9-5 job earning just above average wage. No we don't want to be entrepreneurs, why would we want to have the "focus" and "determination" skills it would take to be a successful entrepreneur. Why? When we can let someone else employ us and worry about the headaches of "problem solving" and "risk management". Lets face it the environment we live in the Caribbean doesn't make it easy for us to drown into entrepreneurship, as small as we are how many veterinarian hospitals can one mass of land have. What amount of space we have for ever private medical practitioner coming of university, law firms-every law student dream to have their own but realistic is in.

When we do come out of university life we get integrated into the labour force so quickly we sometimes don't even realise it, well that's if you can get a job with your newly gain qualifications. Pressures of having to pay back on average a student loan of 100 000 dollars make us hungry like sharks awaiting the smell of blood in water. Sometimes we have to bite a surf board or two for survival, whatever we get we take. Another reality of entrepreneurship with all respect to do who started with they own finances, how will you with the idea get a financial institution to fund your business or vision without even showing evidence of testing the market because of lack of funds. Being an ENTREPRENEUR takes many attributes that we may not all find in one person and the hard work it takes in being successful some persons might rather opt out and work for an employer rather than themselves. Unless you become lucky and get a break, but you not Jeremy Lin are you?

LIN-trepreneur

New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin could all teach us a lesson about entrepreneurial skills when he went from sleeping on the couch of his brother's one bedroom apartment just earlier in 2012 to now having his own condo in White Plains, New York.

This all started when the undrafted Harvard College graduate led the New York Knicks to a winning streak coming off the bench while their two star players were out with injures. This gain wide media coverage and a rise in popularity to his cinderella.  The Asian American gave rise to an era called "Linsanity" and it was everywhere. Lin's jersey became the best selling in the NBA from February 4th, New York stores couldn't keep up with the supply-demand that brought now Knicks hero into the lime light. From broadcast news to magazines was all about Jeremy Lin.

Now adays the hype surrounding the now starting Knicks point guard has simmered down now that his win streak has ended and his numbers/stats during the streak has fallen. It has also led Nike to hold back the production of a sneaker which was in the making during the rise Jeremy Lin. One important entrepreneur skill absent in all is seems to be "Adaptability"

Adaptability is the willingness and ability to change and improve in order to meet the needs of different industry
swings, market circumstances, and dynamic business needs. Adaptability allows the entrepreneur to remain
pliable and composed throughout unpredictable situations and market anomalies, while becoming stronger
through the necessitated and improvisational change.

We can all use Lin example as a model and motivator for our own success in the future.

Caribbean Film Industry - Facing the facts

Are we really serious about a Film Industry in the Caribbean, or are we just as usual copying culture like everything else in this fast moving globalised world. The effects of globalisation can be seen all across the Caricom region, from advances in technology, business markets and even infrastructure developing countries may have had to hold the shorter end of the stick to survive in the global economy. Tourism and Agriculture provide the major earnings for most Caribbean countries. Barely stable after the 2008 collapse of the financial sector in the United States which caused less people to travel and having no more preferential treatment on agricultural markets in the EU these sectors are taking huge losses.

Maintaining a Film Industry in the Caribbean as a whole on in one island may deem to be impossible in the near future. Are we serious about making films in the Caribbean and marketing them for export into local or foreign markets. First of all most Caribbean government are not yet on the ball or may never be when it comes to film. Pirates of the Caribbean was said to be turned down by a few government of the Caribbean before finally being filmed in Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The money involved in the production of Film may not be something a government may see as a profitable investment especially when it involves sometimes millions of dollars. Example Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl had a budget of 140 million dollars and had a gross revenue of over 600 million dollars. So where else can you get funding for your film? The banks and private sector as being done in the United States and else where. Impossible! Picture your Film like a student loan, and how difficult it is to get finance for your education. That should answer your question on what the banks or any private firm in the Caribbean may think of your film.

Training for young aspiring film-makers in the Caribbean at the University level can only be done presently in Trinidad and Tobago which UWI Campus offers a BA in Film. More avenues for film education and even from the secondary school level would be needed if this is to become a successful industry. Having a filming school could be less costly for a student and more concentrated for training to enter the movie making world. Imports of equipment for Television/Film bought from overseas is extremely expensive for the buyer and may sometimes deter a young entrepreneur from investing in this field. Government would have to decrease taxation on all equipment needed for Television or Film production. In the near future our mindset and implementation of certain aspects needed for the development of an industry which would support Film in the Caribbean has to be on the agenda if we are to move forward. As some of the larger islands like Jamaica and Trinidad may be making some progress some of the other island have not yet started.