January 26, 2004

I Want to Go to Bombay, India to Become a Movie Star   Scary news from Bob Herbert of the Times. In Education is no Protection, Herbert notes the absence of discussion in the public forum about the offshoring of hi-tech American jobs. Don't get too comfortable with that title of King of the World, America: "I don't think this has been fully understood by the United States," said Mr. Barrett. "If you look at India, China and Russia, they all have strong education heritages. Even if you discount 90 percent of the people there as uneducated farmers, you still end up with about 300 million people who are educated. That's bigger than the U.S. work force." He said: "The big change today from what's happened over the last 30 years is that it's no longer just low-cost labor that you are looking at. It's well-educated labor that can do effectively any job that can be done in the United States." The kicker: He was then asked, "Aren't we talking about an entire generation of lowered expectations in the United States for what an individual entering the job market will be facing?" "It's tough to come to another conclusion than that," said Mr. Barrett. "If you see this increased competition for jobs, the immediate response to competition is lower prices and that's lower wage rates."   8:40:12 PM    comment []

Golden Globes Honor "The Return of the King" and "The Office"   Rings rules at the Golden Globes. The Return of the King wins four Globe awards and there are two shock wins for British sitcom The Office. [BBC News | Entertainment | World Edition] Let's face it, Return of the King will win the Oscar for best picture because the other two films were snubbed in previous years, perhaps in anticipation of a cumulative award for the trilogy. (I mean, call them nerdy films for nerds if you want, but there's no way a piece of shit like Chicago will be remembered in five years the way The Two Towers will most certainly be remembered). Peter Jackson deserves a Best Director nod for the monumental achievement that the trilogy is. Master and Commander deserves some attention as well, but Mystic River has been completely overrated (the performances are awesome, but the story and the directing are unspectacular). The General recognizes how meaningless The Golden Globes are in the grand scheme of things, but I'm delighted nonetheless that The Office won some awards. This BBC production may be the best TV sitcom in a decade. It spits in the face of American sitcom conventions, and succeeds gloriously in satirizing the blurred distinction between "business" and "friendship" in the contemporary office. Season 1 is on DVD: I highly recommend it. Now if only all television could be like The Office and 24....   12:00:42 AM    comment []

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