*

Although overall a pretty trivial film on the merits, something powerfully compelling is in there, at once grim and glowing, following the title character’s life through its arc of woeful interactions with other human beings.  Watch with someone you love, really.
SPOILERS, so just stop reading now alright?
Her later life turns further and further south as her trust in the people in her life runs out, and her will to live reaches its zenith.  Even then, her lover is terrified of hurting her again, so pushes her away, while her would-be rescuer (an old female friend) she pushes away herself, afraid of being hurt by more human interaction.

Despite all its melodramatic tricks, or in spite of myself and quite because of them, I couldn’t help but draw parallels to real life.  Beyond that, well, this isn’t my diary, it is a blog.

It is fascinating to consider the evolution of consumer behavior in the US, compared to other countries, including the US of yesteryear.  I hold no illusions about the supposed greatness of the past.  A lot of things were much worse.  But people seem to agree that Customers used to be polite to service industry professionals, and that the staff themselves were higher-trained.  Is this true?  I am too young to really remember how polite or impolite or skilled either party used to be.

Regardless, the current state of affairs is unhealthy.

In Japan, the contrast is stark.  There is no tipping, but service is excellent.  Customers are, for the most part, very polite.  Staff are polite as well, and even the 4am convenience store clerks can make instant math calculations in their heads that involve carrying, and staff (AND many customers) bow (very very slightly) at each other a few times during a given transaction at a checkout counter.
Contrast: On a recent trip to San Francisco, I went to a  smoothie chain and the bill came to 2.05.  I gave the employee $3.  He pressed the 3 on the keypad, hit enter, and the register opened.  Then I realized I should make things easier on him and just give him a nickel as well.  The employee then stared blankly at his register for about 20 seconds unable to deal with a register telling him one number (0.95 change) and reality suggesting the blindingly obvious, (give back my third bill, tada).

There are negatives here though.  If the customer wants something that is not on the menu, it is usually not possible to request it, because they clearly believe the inverse maxim: the customer is NOT always right.  At least in this case, I wish they would learn from us.

In the linked police report, the supposedly “stolen” (opened early) gift is referred to as a Playstation Game Boy.  That would be a wonderful name for a chinese black market toy.

I am tired of most of my albums, but I have once again hit a point where there are no websites or magazines I find I can turn to to recommend a nice steady flow of just a few to try listening to per month.
Instead I look and find a hundred listening recommendations, making my eyes glaze over and instead not buy or download any of them.

Or I go seek out and then listen once or twice before forgetting about the new acquisition and it disappears in the noise of a large existing collection, making me begin to wonder if after all a “rent it for a week” service with iPod support might not be a great idea when I don’t care to listen to most of my collection more than a few times.  Internet radio remains damningly repetitive and bland.

I was surprised to find that in my last video chat with my parents, they were fascinated by the tv ads for the Wii.  Given that they have no interest in console games whatsoever, this seems a good sign to me of its broad appeal.  I may have mentioned the Wii to them a few weeks ago when I visited them, helping to plant some interest, but that alone couldn’t have been enough.

Despite Liam Neeson’s horrible fake american accent, I recommend it.  A look back at a different time in american society, only half a century ago, yet so very different (and in unpleasant ways, the same).

While I was away from the office, we moved all the desks into a new space identical to our previous space, just one floor below it, and we left behind all the junk as storage.  Now instead of staring at a wall, I am looking out from the 6th floor at an intersection with a small forest visible out of the edge.  Not surprisingly, my ability to relax and just focus is markedly improved.  I can’t be sure, but I’d swear that the switch from drab nasty blue carpeting to warm brown cork flooring also is boosting my sense of ease.