Where WorDs WandEr, an etymology hit

The origin of the phrase is unknown.^[1] It has been attributed to Warren Buffett^[2] since in Buffett's first fund he raised $105,000 from 11 doctors, himself placing a token sum of $100.00 as his "skin in the game";Legendary etymologist  William Safire dispelled the Buffett origin.^[5]

Another possible - and more palatable -  explanation is that the phrase draws its origins from William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, in which the antagonist, Shylock, stipulates that the protagonist, Antonio, must promise a pound of his own flesh as collateral, to be exacted by Shylock in the event that Antonio's friend Bassanio defaults on the loan to which Antonio is guarantor.

Literary Arts: Shakespeare by Schools

COME next month, 18 Jamaican high schools will vie for the opportunity to tour the United Kingdom in 2016 to showcase their Jamaican adaptation of plays by William Shakespeare.

The unique venture, launched in February at the British High Commission, is the brainchild of Generating Genius founder, Dr Tony Sewell, and sponsored by the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS).

The year-long, school-based competition, to run from March 2015 to March 2016, will comprise a series of regional rounds across the island and a grand final in Kingston, where the winning school will receive an all-expenses-paid tour of the UK, in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.

"The winning Jamaican school will tour schools in London, Birmingham and Manchester, inspiring British children to understand Shakespeare and see him through the lens of Jamaica. They will get a chance to perform at Stratford upon-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare, and join the International Shakespeare Festival with students from across the world," said Sewell.

Shakespeare, who is widely regarded as the world's pre-eminent dramatist, often features as compulsory reading for students who study Literatures in English across the world, including students sitting Literatures in English in Jamaica and the English-speaking Caribbean at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examination. The championship, however, is geared at broadening students' exposure by allowing them to participate in and view productions of Shakespeare.

According to Sewell, the championship is targeted to students in the 10th grade, or fourth form, but will also be open to all secondary school students at the discretion of their teachers and trainers.

The plays produced by the students will be based on abridged 30-minute versions of Shakespeare's plays, but using Jamaican themes and contexts. However, the language of the plays will be maintained. Local audiences will be treated to shows from three participating schools in each regional round.

The project has been endorsed and is being supported by the Ministry of Youth and Culture, the Ministry of Education, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission and the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts.

Earl Jarrett, JNBS general manager said the competition is an important venture that will have an impact on the growth of the young people and by consequence, the country.

"The arts play an important part in our advancement and is a central part of development," he said noting his organisation's continued commitment to nation-building through education.

"The arts is a natural part of Jamaica's cultural dispensation and was important to the development of critical thinking. We anticipate that this competition will not only promote a better appreciation for classical literature, but that it will assist students with sharpening their analytical skills, as well as in speaking to different audiences and understanding how to adapt works and information to suit varying contexts," said Jarrett.

Speaking at the launch, Education Minister Ronald Thwaites added that the arts "should not be left behind."

"Education is critical to the development we hope to achieve and, therefore, in our emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math we also have to emphasise the arts," he said.

Sewell said although the competition centres on Shakespeare's plays, the themes, plots and use of language will be very Jamaican.

"Shakespeare wrote his plays to be understood by ordinary people and to help broaden their level of thinking. It is only in recent times that his works have been linked to the elite. Shakespeare would have been at home in Jamaica, as his plays also include tales of 'duppies' and people speaking to each other using poetic imagery. There are class struggles, revenge and lots of 'mix-up' business. I like to say that Shakespeare was really a Jamaicans"

-the Jamaica Observer

Mr Bombastic!: Thor - Trailer (OFFICIAL)

With comic book movie adaptations pretty much an assembly line affair these days, its harder to really assess each new creation on its merits.

One standout point for this latest Marvel epic is volume. In a genre marked by loud, busy pictures, Thor could have easily taken on Shaggy's "Boombastic" as its theme song. It yells, bangs, whooshes and barrels its way through roughly two hours in bringing the story of the Norse god of thunder into the 21st century where, of course, everybody's favourite bogeyman, "The Government" is waiting to muddle and mess up things.

And yet, there is - to coin a dancehall phrase - a "bashment" quality to the boisterousness of both the film and its main character. Director Kenneth Branagh decided to chuck his Shakespeare credentials out the window and delivers a mildly asbsurdist, even sardonic take on the superhero, jostling between the New Mexico desert and an Asgard that looks like every archtitectural student's worse thesis flung together. As a kind of mythological gatekeeper between these worlds, Idris Elba (whose token blackness sparked some controversy), picks up on the director's lead and radiates the best kind of cool. His performance says "So what if this is totally incredible stuff? We're doing all right."

As the earthling love interest, Natalie Portman does little to reverse my long-held antipathy toward her, but the inclusion of Kat Dennings as her sister almost makes up for it  - perhaps she and not Portman should have been the love interest, but that's obviously NOT a risk the studio was going to take.

In the lead role, Aussie  Chris Hemsworth, a sort of buff Brad Pitt, is similarly taking some of the air out of the  Thor mythology; you can almost see him suppressing a chuckle or a smirk even as he rails against the "Frostchilds" (the evil race that is seeking to take over Asgard) or upbraiding his own father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins, in an uncharacteristically earnest performance).

As the sort of leading edge of this year's superhero movie tsunami (there's Captain America, Green Lantern, The Avengers and more X-Men still to come), Thor grabs the genre, holds it upside down by the ankles, and gives it a fairly good shake. You won't get much out of watching tis spectacle, but on the other hand it isn't boring, which is more than can be said for many of its cohorts.