10/29/2011

Wine

"I am Nestor's cup

Good to drink from.

Whoever drinks this cup empty,

Straight away, desire for beautiful crowned Aphrodite will seize him."
(Unknown, scratched on the side of the "Cup of Nestor")


10/28/2011

iCoach

"To quit smoking is always a positive thing"

"Just the idea of quitting is unbearable"

"I know someone who smoked two packs of cigarettes a day, was healthy and lived 'till 97, without any problem, what-so-ever."

Where you not supposed to be helping me? Anyway, improvements have been made...

P.S.: what's the deal with the "i"? 

10/27/2011

Bullet points with butterfly wings

Today, whilst at work, I reached a sad conclusion: I think in bullet points!!
No, it's not what you're thinking, I do NOT think about the bullet point, per se. It's just that the thoughts, they come to me as raw data, every time I start thinking... as if a shopping list, in the making.
Perhaps that explains why I'm so lousy at expressing my feelings. Or anything else, for that matter... ha ha!

Maybe I think too much...

Peenemünde

I get it! There are sunken costs in these things... You can get more than you give, but in the end, no exit strategy will be of avail.
A late entrance is a guarantee that there's much to learn, to reach unomia. To go over byte after byte of information is nothing sort of a tall order, specially when much of it is bound to remind you that you're late.
When the British first took air photos of Peenemünde, they couldn't find anything worth bombing, until they noticed a shadow... That shadow told them all they needed to know.

So, my questions are:
  1. Why would you have an exit strategy, if you don't mean to leave, at all?
  2. Can you really be late for something you didn't know existed?
  3.  Should we all be looking for shadows?
Like the poms, all I see is crosses, for now. And yes, it bothers me. But then again, since when did that stop me from carrying on?


"To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the 'U-turn', I have only one thing to say: "You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning.""
(M. Thatcher)

10/26/2011

1%

Why is it so wrong to be unpredictable?
My friends think they can figure out what's on my mind... Self-esteem's a bitch! It tricks into wishful thinking... I feel like Peisistratos, some times. Where's Phye, by the way?
Routines, they provide us with comfort, in our lives... I have mine and it include following my gut, at times.

"99% of the people do it! And the rest is just a statistical margin of error."

Sometimes my gut goes for that 1%...

10/25/2011

Of Montreal

Did I hesitate?
Would I trade it for something else?
Could I want it more?
Will I regret it?


No. No! No!!! Aaaand HELL NOOOOOOO!!!!

10/24/2011

Any given Sunday

" On any given Sunday you're gonna win or you're gonna lose."
The All Blacks won it! The Web Ellis Trophy will stay in New Zealand, where it will be cherished by its society, white and Maori alike.
The names of the players will be engraved in shrines, all along the North and South islands and petitions will circulate for Richie McCaw to be named king, Conrad Smith mayor of Wellington, Daniel Carter saint-martyr, Brad Thorn to have a mountain named after himself and so on... New Zealand lives and breathes rugby, they practically invented the modern game, and I'll sleep soundly tonight knowing that "Old Bill" is not being stored in a glass box, in the Élysée, for Mr. and Mrs. Sarkozy's eyes only, but instead will be in a place it could easily call "home".

The RWC 2011 as had its critics. Too much "haka fever", inconsistent refereeing, top-tier nations with more favourable schedules and whatnot. Well, New Zealand time zone issue apart, for me it was thrilling event: Canadian beards trumping Pacific Island muscle, Welsh youth showing that there's fight to be had in the northern hemisphere's rugby, Marc Lièvremont's mo and so on... Oh! And what about the Russian bloke with the Dublin accent... priceless! Hahaha!

I won't name any "My XV", that's just a cliché. But I'll leave you with this:

Brad Thorn: The "Old warhorse" sheds a tear
Winning captain: Richie McCaw can hardly believe himself
 The Legend and the future: The great Brian Lochore, with a young Christchurch player


Glory: "King Richard" lifts "Old Bill"


Champions: The class of 2011 ends the 24 year drought


Haka Kamate: Mandatory celebration


See you in 4 years...

10/20/2011

Cumulative Prospect Theory

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about about behavioural economics, and the works of Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.

This may be a secondary effect of going back to school, after three years dedicated to working in a dead-end job, with no real interest in what I do, just because the money's good and it has been allowing me to live a good life. On the other hand, it may just be because things are not what they used to: there's a "February".
There has never been a "February" quite like this one. There were "Junes", "Augusts" and they were good, but this is... something else! Its on the back of my head, all live long day, on every smoke and every coffee cup.

But back to Kanheman and Tversky...

I've been looking closer into the "Cumulative Prospect Theory": according to the authors, a "Framing Effect" occurs, every time people think about the possible outcomes of a certain choice. I.e. when people are faced with a choice, the format in which the outcome alternatives are presented, influences their their decision. Normally what happens is that, on evaluating outcomes, people often use the status quo as a reference point, rather than the final status. In addition, different attitudes towards the risk of gains (outcomes above the reference point) and losses (outcomes below the reference point) come into play, during the decision-making stages, though people are generally more inclined to worry about potential losses, than potential gains (loss aversion). People also tend to overweight "extreme", but unlikely events and, on the other hand, underweight "average" events.
(Full paper here)

This makes sense... Lets go through it:

  • Status quo: come end of term and I go to the Isles for a rugby match and visit friends. I've been wanting to go and watch a Six Nations match (Welsh one, at that) and I know that I'll like it. Maybe I'll watch it in Ireland and I'll get to visit Skellig Michael. This is all nice and fun, but still this is nothing of extraordinary, no "February", at least. As I see it, it will be an isolated event, with no repercussion on my future and it's bound to happen, sooner or later, as Wales will play in Ireland again, in 2014.
  • "February" is all I've been dreaming of, for the last months. It's my "Garden of earthly delights", something I KNOW it will make me happy beyond belief. It is also something that, in my gut, I feel that it will lead me through a different path in life. Nothing will be quite the same before "February"... The mere sight of it has been enough... It is an "extreme", in terms of gains and it is unlikely to happen again, as some things in life only happen once!

As it stands, the gains derived from my status quo choice are far lower than the ones from "February" and the latter is an unlikely event. As such, according the Kahneman and Tversky, I will always choose "February", no matter how much I stand to loose, or how much I stand to get hurt, in case it shouldn't happen.


 Skelling Michael: I wanna sit here for a while

10/19/2011

Walden Pond

"Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul." (H.D. Thoreau)






I wanna live here... lets?

10/16/2011

Friendly advice

When things get complicated;
When no amount of rationalization seems to do the trick;
When the knot is too entangled;
When you lost the ends of the thread;

JUST STOP!

Take a deep breath...

And get back to basics.



"Eyes have seen you
Let them photograph your soul
Memorize your alleys
On an endless roll"

10/15/2011

Sunday, Sunshine... on a Saturday morning

Flocks of ash keep falling on my keyboard... "time to quit smoking", is what I guess my laptop would say. Where have I heard that lately? Like I would forget...
Bad 9 AM rugby, bad Sam Warburton, amazing half-Portguese-in-denial Morgan Parra. This straight from Dreamland/ Kiwiland/ Long-White-Cloudland/ Hakaland/ Rugby-is-religionland: New Zealand. Via IP Backbones, Submarine cables, Carrierhouses, ADMs, CPEs and delivered on crappy pirate websites (thank you, crappy pirate websites!!! haha!).
Orange juice+sliced apples+toast with olive paste= bang on! Expresso and Lucky Strikes, again (yay!), means a shower is due, for the complete wake-up process.
There's a game at Olaias (windy Olaias, second home in Lisbon)... Hate that I can't play any more! Grrrh! Miss getting down and dirty, miss scrums, miss tackles, fend-offs, swerves, charges, rucking! (sigh) Hope the guys win today...
Same story on every newspaper (ones that matter, anyway), government cutbacks in 2012's budget... Christmas bonus and paid holidays are going the Steve Jobs way. Tragedy? I think not! We're Portuguese, we can party all night long with some sardines or pork, on bread, a box of red wine, or a crate of chilled "mini" beers... Leave the rioting to the Greek and whining to the Irish, let's stick to what we're good at.
Going through yesterday's CommLog... No comments! No drunktexting, yesterday! Just verytiredbuttryingtohavefuntexting, though I wouldn't blame you for confusing the two... Miss you.

The sun is shining and I gotta an assignment to finish... Bah! Feels like Sunday, there's this playing in my iPod (so good!), except there's no Monday tomorrow.
Got an email from "home" yesterday... Will reply very soon.

Just remembered a funny story about sardines and marketing... God, I'm lame!

10/14/2011

Sublime Disorder

Long overdue... Hats off to you, Tizzy!










More here 

The McKinsey Way

When trying to find a fit between what is possible and what you expect to happen, you find yourself playing in the field of things that may yet come to past. You often can't do this about yourself, as you are too emotional, too close to it for comfort, hence the need for the third party, the "best friend ".
The best friend is someone you can trust with accounts of basically everything, that goes on with your life:  things you are proud, or embarrassed of; things that made you happy, or that made you sad. It is the one person you can trust to give you a proper grilling, to bust your chops, to tell it to you straight... It is the business equivalent of  an external consultant.
Like a McKinsey guy, you know you can count on it to be ruthless in his assessment. It will go to great lengths to re-engineer your mindset if it sees fit to do it. It will not be cheap... not by any rate!!!

Though far, you still made me talk and hear myself talking... I bet you're still laughing, you sod! I miss you, bud! Děkuji vám za to! =)

10/13/2011

Self-perpetuating

Why do I keep doing this?



Noise Rock... like this too much!

Sogndalsfjøra again

I have hit a brick wall and it shattered into shreds of clay!
But for a moment there, I felt like the dumbest person alive... Just as if a part of my brain had shut and watched passively as the rest went about doing shite! It is a feeling of uselessness, or even despair, when doing the wrong thing sound like a good idea... Yet in the back of your head, you know it's still wrong.
Wish I could say I could not remember the last time it happened... alas, I cannot! Every so often, the warden comes along and parades itself in front of the jail's door, whilst juggling the keys. No use in yelling, no use in crying... the walls are thick, the door is sturdy, the lock is bulletproof and the warden has long years on his belt.
I am where I come from and what I did, but there is still a great deal to build on, so I would hold on writing me off... I'm changing, but there is still some old skin to shed!

I saw something in Sogndalsfjøra... I saw it again! It has been two months now...

10/12/2011

Something Fierce

Something Fierce - Future Punks

This is way too good for a Tuesday night...

10/11/2011

Scale

Question 1:
What's the marginal cost of a feeling?

Question 2:
Are there scale economies in love?

What's the use? I'm yet to find my heart's break-even point...

Less is more


Less (hair) is more!

Warren Harding is my teacher

"Why would you come to a Finance class? This is packet with GUYS!!!!
You should have enrolled in Marketing... That's where the girls are! You know, CHICAS!!!!"

(God!)

10/10/2011

For tomorrow...

Separating economy and society is the first step to fail in understanding it, altogether.
We all weigh our decisions according to our own economic principles and the concept of value is much more than a statistical application.
Everyone plays games and none of us wants to be the "prisoner".
There will always be ups and downs in our lives... we can all trace our curves.
The truth is we're all in it for the money... some in the form of coin, others just want something else.


I wanna fuckin teleporter!!!

10/09/2011

10/08/2011

Magic Shane

You make me cry with joy!




"A pure heart full of goodness
Is fairer than the pretty lily,
None but a pure heart can sing,
Sing in the day and sing in the night."
(Calon Lân)

Zen

1

+

1

=

1

10/07/2011

Over Under Sideways Down

Just thinking...

The train is coming
It's gonna take me away
My heart is yearning
But I won't see you today

I got it!

I'll tackle this rhyme
I'll side-step space
I'll scrum through time
I'll dive for this tailrace

I'm one day closer...




10/03/2011

25 Paces

"Humbert: From here to that old car you know so well is a stretch of twenty-five paces. Make those twenty-five steps. With me. Now.


Lolita: You're saying you'll give us the money if I go to a motel with you?

Humbert:
No, no, no. I mean leave here now, and come live with me. And die with me, and everything with me.



 Lolita: You're crazy.
 
 


:<

10/02/2011

I ain't got no Santeria

So maybe I'm one of those guys who refuses to believe in nothing
Maybe I do feel the presence of something "higher"
Maybe I do feel the power
Just don't count on me to be another sheep in your flock
Or some wooden marionette, which you can move with your puppet masters' hands

I am free to believe, to worship and my choice is made...


"Out here in perimeter there are no stars... Out here we're stoned immaculate"

10/01/2011

Wake up call

Do you know what it feels like to wake up to something new?
How many times have you literally opened your eyes to an imagery that's in no way similar to your past experiences?
Is it normal to discard a common place for a new stance in life, on a buzz, in a rager?
How many a tear must I swallow until this becomes embedded in me?
How much fuckin' longer must I wait?



"This is the strangest life I’ve ever known."


Mob