One week's end, but work's not ended.

[silveradept]

Watched La Boheme Rent with annaonthemoon tonight, after work (which, today, was surprisingly quiet for both shifts, well right up to the end of my second shift, when things got busy. But that's okay, too. Tomorrow, a branch shift, and Sunday, a branch shift. Library jobs are great, really, when they have you working weekends every now and then. Really kills any chance you had of a social life, though.

The movie of Rent is not something I would recommend watching with someone if you want to feel happy. Even with all the things that happen, I feel it's more a tragedy than a comedy. It's an inspiring, but very down, movie, If that makes any sense. Maybe more on the matter as I think about it more and let it sit. Now that I have some visuals associated with it, maybe that'll do odd things with the clockwork in my brainmeats.

In other news, the rats are abandoning ship, or something. Here's a story, caught on tape, of an AOL service rep that doesn't let a guy cancel his account, instead continuing to ask him "Why leave our totally inept and crappy service? You've used it so much, you know!"

Over in Germany, while the United States has made a less-than-graceful exit from the FIFA World Cup, there's still more to be played. Science, however, may be partly responsible for the way this year's game turns out. By changing the design and manufacture of the ball, it is now possible for strikers to use the knuckle-curve football shot, and the goalies aren't very happy.

More potential terrorists found - all for stopping plots before they happen, but this one feels like it was made for sitcoms. It seems a little too much like clockwork that we're "finding" terrorist plots. Just enough, perhaps, to keep the people off their guard and fearful enough to let legislation through that they would otherwise shred? More good news from the terror front followed, as Tom Ridge admits what we all already know - the "war" on "terror" will last several decades. So the part about making war unto the seventh generation seems to be intact. That's just peachy that I'm getting into the world where the ugly American is the one in charge.

In apparent defiance of the stereotypes about its sexual culture, Japanese people are apparently not having that much sex. We do wonder, of course, how the adult industries are doing there - perhaps it's less sex and more pr0n, and the wanking that usually results from such?

Philanthropy from the grocer - Buffalo grocer gave away millions quietly, stories abound after his death. That's a good kind of memorable. Admittedly, only comes out to the wider sphere after you're dead, but I suspect that's what happens with a lot of people - they don't really get memorable until they're not there anymore. Maybe I'm going at things the wrong way, then - being memorable by being good in this life, and hopefully staying memorable after this one's over.

Matt Damon tapped to be Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek Movie. We are not amused. Well, we weren't exactly thrilled with the setting for this movie, but this only makes things less appealing. We'll wait for the video and watch it when someone else gets it. Seriously. Even though Mark Hamil's not in it, I hope that Cock-Knocker jokes abound, right about now.

I know I've said before that I've not been a fan of Comcast service while I had it before, and I'm not a fan of it that much now. Although, once again, people with tape give the corporation it's comeuppance. Technician falls asleep on job, gets caught on tape. The part we like the best, though, is the thank-you that the client gave to the corporation - his complaints are all true, and if Comcast listened and did well with them, they'd be a much better-liked and better-respected company.

Right, then. Sleep is a good thing. Time to cash in on it... and figure out what I want for breakfast in the morning.

Comments

[jordanis.livejournal.com]

As to the star trek thing, somewhere around there's an offical denial that the next ST movie is going to be centered on the Acadamy.

The Acadamy as a movie is something that's been being bandied about for /years/. Some dipthong just trotted it out to start rumors again.

[silveradept]

Ah, okay, sop it's not worth listening to those particles of speech that say "Academy!"

Still, Matt Damon?

[urbankotq.livejournal.com]

We were told that this anti-terror thing was going to last a while almost immediately after 11 September, so I'm not annoyed at that. I'm not even that annoyed about Iraq--if we can get everything relatively stable and then leave, all this course-staying, sacrifice, and attendant madness will have been worth it. It's the domestic policy that sets me on edge. I want my property and privacy back, blast it.

[silveradept]

Well, war creates opportunists. Including the kinds of peoplw who want to take their opportunity at the expense of yours.

[annaonthemoon.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Rent definitly is'nt a happy movie. I'm glad we finally watched it though. Sorry about the whole soaking your t-shirt with tears thing.

Social Life? who needs it? :-P


As for breakfast, we *do* have a bunch of eggs. You might be able to convince me to make some...

[sharpsight.livejournal.com]

N) On the Japanese-related article, see my comment in annaonthemoon's journal.

[silveradept]

Noted. True enough, that if there's no space, then having stable population is probably not a good idea.

[sharpsight.livejournal.com]

N) ...and actively trying to increase the population/reproduction rates of said population is even worse.

[2dlife.livejournal.com]

o.O

Wait, what?!

Population statistics are not a single number. You can't just say that "the population is declining, the place is over populated, great!". That's very very naive. Demographics are much more important. Japan is already suffering from a severely aging population. Suppose 2/3 of the population of the UK were over the age of 50 ... and that the birth rate was 1 child per couple. In about 20 years, you'd have a major crisis with no one supporting the no-longer-productive aged portion of the population and in about 40 years, the populations of the country will crash. As much as you may or may not hate the UK, this isn't a great situation.

This is a crisis for the Japanese and they realize it. And the solution is to try to increase the birth rate and the social mentality of the every-day Japanese.

[sharpsight.livejournal.com]

N) What's the alternative, then (in reference to your example about the UK)? Choose to instead keep the reproductive rate high (with an overall surplus) in order to support the many left over from the previous generation who aren't able to keep themselves alive on their own--and then what? Next generation, you have exactly the same problem, except worse because there are even more people; the analogy of borrowing money to pay debts (and their interest) comes to mind, except that the consequences are more physically obvious (less space and quanity of resources per person).

There are multiple seemingly possible solutions. Which ones are effective in the long term?

(If what needs to be addressed lies in a completely different area, then by all means change it instead.)

[2dlife.livejournal.com]

If you want a financial analogy, here's a better one:

The situation is akin to a company which is spending too much money (resources) on existing products (aging people) which aren't selling (they're getting to be less productive as they age) as opposed to brand new products which do sell but they don't have enough of (young, productive people). The solution to this draining of money is not to stop all R&D funding (reduce the birth rate), it's actually to INCREASE R&D funding.

[sharpsight.livejournal.com]

N) That ignores the problem of space, ne?

[2dlife.livejournal.com]

Space is a resource in the above analogy.

[sharpsight.livejournal.com]

M) Is money separate from R&D funding, in your analogy?

Nevertheless: if you're running out of money (space), then eventually you won't be able to make newer products. Crucially, you can't sell one unit at a profit (with a few general exceptions), as in return for allowing a person a certain amount of space, you don't get even that much back in return. (That is, if space is a resource, likewise eventually all your resources (unless you recycle wisely) will be exhausted, particularly if you just use more and more resources. (Now, if R&D funding referred to resources poured into increasing the total amount of space available... which applies to some extent, though less than the needed amount...)