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How could there be a better place to spend Halloween than a theatre called the DARK ROOM? The Business is ready for the holiday, we have our candy, our costumes and our post victory parade riot gear all set. Come one, come all, and bring the spirits of your ancestors with you. Don’t worry, if you get a case of the SPOOKIES, our guest this week will hold your hand. Claudia Cogan will be joining us on this unholy night. She’s top notch. She's been on Last Comic Standing 7 as a semi-finalist, been nomi nated three times for an Excellence in Comedy in New York (ECNY) award and won the first ever Time Out New York Joke of the Year nod. Claudia is an alum of UCB Theater improv school and played on several house teams. She has performed at the Bridgetown Comedy Festival and at clubs and colleges around the country. Come join Claudia and your regulars Sean “Spooky” Keane, Bucky “Puts the SIN in” Sinister, “Maniacal” Mike Drucker and Caitlin “GILLotine” for a night...

Remember Jérôme Kerviel  ?  OK, very excusable if you have forgotten who he is. He was the rogue trader who almost brought Société Générale ( a reputed French bank) to its knees. This happened in 2008. Kerviel was a trader who punted like crazy in the casino, that is euphemistically called financial markets - he was making gigantic bets that involved European stock index futures. The whole thing unraveled, he was fired, Société Générale tottered and ultimately lost € 4.9 bn.   Criminal proceedings were launched against Jérôme Kerviel  and he was sentenced to prison and a fine. He appealed, and, on Friday, lost his appeal. What caught me was the quantum of the fine. He was fined € 4.9 bn, the quantum of the loss that Société Générale incurred.  A fine of € 4.9 bn ???? Kerviel has no money and is unemployed and probably unemployable. How on earth is he expected to pay  € 4.9 bn ?   This is outright crazy. The judges have fallen hook line and sinker ...

The number one thing that holds us back from achieving our goals, from grasping our full potential, is ourselves. Instead of taking action, we wait. We wait for the perceived risks to abate, the circumstances to change, more time to become available to us. We wait for the support of others. We promise we'll leap into action as soon as we have more money, fewer commitments, clearer goals. Nothing happens. Even when opportunity comes knocking. "I'm not quite ready," we reply. Courage This week, Paul and Roger discuss two emails - one from Chris Brogan , the other from AJ Leon . Both highlight the need for you to be courageous. They urge you to take action over finding excuses. Chris and AJ want you to become the whole person you are capable of being. They offer advice. To listen to this week's episode, hit the play button on the embedded player at the top of this post. Alternatively, you can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes . Help yourself If you'd like to s...

Readers of this blog would be familiar with Ravi Rajagopalan. Ravi is a very dear friend, a brilliant guy, with an incredible array of interests and knowledge. His cover drive might not have the silken grace of a David Gower, but that's the worst you can say of him. As you might have gathered from comments on my previous post, he is a military buff too and he was motivated enough by my take on El Alamein to write a guest post. As you will see, much better content, much better prose and much better pictures than I am ever capable of. So here is the story of Bir Hakeim , as told by Ravi. The River Seine cuts through Paris, dividing the city neatly between the elite and the hoi-polloi.   Northwest of the city lie the salubrious environs of the 16 th Arrondisement. The Passy metro station serves the inhabitants of this quarter, connecting Line 6 from the North to the 15 th Arrondisement across the river   over a double-decker bridge built in 1904. The beautiful wrought-iron col...

Before The Business hits the BIG STAGE at Cobb’s Comedy Club this Saturday night the 27th at 8pm, we wanted to enjoy a night at our Dark Room home with a perfectly delightful guest. In fact, if you’ve had the pleasure of meeting her personally or have just googled the meaning of her name, you know she is a calm and powerful goddess. Shanti Charan is a winner. She won 1st place in the 2011 Rooster T Feather’s Comedy Competition and participated in the 2011 San Francisco International Comedy Competition where she advanced to the semi-finals. Charan was recently awarded SF Weekly’s 2012 Best Stand-Up on the Way Up. SF Weekly says Charan’s writing “is clever and confident beyond her years.” She will join your Business regulars Alex Koll, Sean Keane, Bucky Sinister and Caitlin Gill for an adventure 65 million years in the making*. BYOBurrito and BYO$5. If you want to bring a friend, that’s FREE! Just grab a 2-for-1 coupon here, which is also where you can learn all ...

We should not forget. We are a generation that, thankfully, has not seen war. But the baser instincts of man are never very far from the surface. Even in our lifetimes we have seen horrors - Afghanistan, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Congo. But thankfully, nothing on the scale of World War II. Mankind should never forget the horrors of war. This week is the 70th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein , one of the turning points of World War II. El Alamein was a dot in the Egyptian desert. Today it is a beach resort, then, it was in the middle of nowhere. But on the unforgiving desert sands was fought one of the most important wars of World War II. The Afrika Corps of Field Marshal Rommel was winning everything in its path. All through Europe, and elsewhere, the Germans and Italians were winning everything and the Allied Forces couldn't seem to do a thing about it. But at El Alamein, the tide was turned. Montgomery's forces defeated Rommel and the Germans were pushed back, and from...

Ideas - we all have them. Some are fantastic, some less so. Most are never acted on. In his latest email, Chris Brogan gives you seven steps to help you pick those ideas that are good for you and implement them. Paul and Roger discuss their own experiences of implementing ideas. During the podcast, you'll hear occasional interference from someone's smartphone. Our apologies. The person responsible ( Paul Roger) has been spoken to. Our news The podcast is available in iTunes now, making it easier to subscribe to. If you listen to us on your Blackberry, we have you covered too. We've been accepted into the Blackberry catalogue. Even better is that the cafe at the Blackrock Castle Observatory has given us our own table beside a fire. You can't imagine a more welcoming place, nor a better "studio" to record in. The Business Jazz players   Business Jazz is a collaboration. You, our listener, are the most important person. Next is Chris Brogan. 

If you’d like t...