A few nights ago a sixteen year old kid waltzed into a high-class bar in downtown Tokyo. Suave and nonchalant he proceeded to charm the cocktail waitresses and order drinks for several customers. Some sixty odd whiskys and two bottles of Dom Perignon later his several thousand dollar tab (or equivalent) was brought to him, at which point he admitted to having no money and being underage, much to the chagrin of the seduced employees.

Apart from the fact that this kid is a badass he effectively demonstrates a principle that I acknowledge and wholeheartedly embrace, namely that life is there for the taking; if you want something badly enough, and are willing to shift your priority lists around and make the necessary sacrifices, there is probably a way to do just about what ever you want. This principle is summed up in the maxim "Where there's a will, there's a way" and also exhibited in the 1983 classic Scarface, when Tony Montana tells his sidekick "I'm going to get what's coming to me - the world...and everything in it." The active application of this knowledge certainly, more often than not, lends itself to the success, however so defined, (and regardless whether for good or bad) to the applier. It essentially boils down to ambitious enterprise with end products ranging from Bill Gates to Osama Bin Laden...and sometimes simply our affable drunk teenager.

In other news, I continue to perpetuate my beer pong slump whilst harboring vague and dim desires for additional sources of monetary income.