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Money matters: The China Syndrome
A five-dimension analytical model for deciding when (and when not) to purchase from the East (Part 1)
Graham Macdonald
MBMG International Ltd.
For one U.S. automotive supplier a few years ago, it seemed
that purchasing components from China was the right thing to do - and quickly.
manufacturers in virtually every industry were setting up shop in China; to read
about it in the business press, every venture paid off.
The industrial manufacturer, though, discovered to its dismay
that success in China was not a sure thing. Enticed by attractive price quotes,
the manufacturer failed to make completely sure that its Chinese partners could
live up to its technical and logistical requirements. When the Chinese suppliers
struggled to meet production schedules, the manufacturer was forced to use
expensive airfreight. Quality issues also surfaced; the suppliers lacked the
skills to maintain process control and implement engineering changes. The
combination of problems eroded the expected cost savings. Ultimately, the
automotive supplier reduced its Chinese procurement effort.
With Western companies rushing to China to fill gaps or
strengthen links across their supply chains, one particular part of their
operations - procurement - deserves special scrutiny. If approached with a
rigorous evaluation of product characteristics, Chinese component purchasing can
be the right answer for optimal management of the supply chain. When not well
planned and carefully analyzed, sourcing in China can be the source of woe.
Gold Rush
The China “gold rush” grew out of a dilemma. In recent
years, when companies examined their P&Ls, most found that purchased
material was the largest line item - typically 40 to 70 percent of the total
cost of goods. In the face of relentless market pressure to keep prices down,
procurement often became a prime target for cost reductions. But that well, for
many companies, has begun to run dry. Thus, businesses are increasingly looking
to non-domestic sources to meet cost reduction demands.
Asia, especially China, is the most apparent solution. It has
the cheapest labour, a pro-business environment, a productive workforce, and
strong government support for keeping domestic manufacturing operations as
inexpensive as possible - a direct path to easy cost cutting.
The supply chain’s headlong tilt toward China can be seen
in the percentage share of supplier contracts awarded in the past six years. In
1998, at one U.S. auto manufacturer, U.S. and Canadian companies garnered 62
percent of all quotes and supplier contracts, and Asian (primarily Chinese)
outfits only 4 percent. By 2002, the two regions were just about equal, with
each enjoying about 30 percent of supplier contracts awarded.
This trend is not even near its peak yet. By 2008, auto and
industrial products companies will more than double their percentage of spending
on components and materials in low-cost countries (LCCs), according to a recent
Booz Allen Hamilton survey of purchasing executives. Moreover, apparel
companies, which currently spend 50 percent of their procurement dollars in
LCCs, say that within four years, these countries will provide virtually all of
their material and supply needs. (See Graph) And for most companies, over
half of the spending targeted for LCCs will be earmarked for China.
The Chinese experience can turn sour, though, when
procurement managers fail to systematically assess the fit between the
requirements for purchased components and the realities of the China-based
supply chain. They can inadvertently increase their cost of operations and put
revenue at risk - thereby compromising their profitability. Some commodities
that are sourced in China, it turns out, can more wisely be procured from
another low-cost region, or even from domestic sources.
Each of five critical dimensions must be examined for every
prospective purchase of components and materials in order for a company to
determine whether purchasing from China is the best decision. These dimensions
include, naturally, manufacturing cost, but they add in transportation
efficiency, lead time and scheduling stability, product design, and technical
capabilities.
Using this analysis, we have found, for example, that
production tooling (such as injection-moulded plastics and stamping dies, which
are labour-intensive to manufacture and which have long product lead times) is
perfect for Chinese procurement initiatives. By contrast, minimal labour
requirements make China a bad bet for auto interior plastics and stamping, for
example. Frequent product changes similarly rule the country out as a first
choice for customized telecommunications equipment. Manufacturers in these
industries would do better to consider low - labour - cost regions closer to
home (such as Mexico for the U.S., or Eastern Europe for Western Europe), where
they can realize a portion of the labour savings while maintaining tighter
control on the supply chain.
Next week we’ll take an in-depth look at the 5 dimensions.
The above data and research was compiled from sources believed to be
reliable. However, neither MBMG International Ltd nor its officers can
accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the above article nor
bear any responsibility for any losses achieved as a result of any actions
taken or not taken as a consequence of reading the above article. For more
information please contact Graham Macdonald on [email protected]
Snap Shots: Songkran without fears or tears
by Harry Flashman
I will make no secret of the fact that I detest
Songkran, that wonderful celebration of veneration of the ancestors that
has degenerated into an excuse for acting out innate violence that leaves
hundreds dead and thousands injured. However, I will admit that the first
time I experienced this annual water throwing event, I too thought it was
fun.
By the way, despite what you may be told, this is not a
uniquely ‘Thai’ festival, but one that is celebrated in many countries
in SE Asia, hence those who would like to flee must go further than the
immediate neighboring countries!
As a visual spectacle it is definitely worth recording
for posterity, but this should not be done at the expense of your camera
equipment. As mentioned, this is a water festival, and cameras and thrown
water (and powder and ice) do not mix. (For that matter, water throwing
and alcohol do not mix either, which is just one of the reasons for the
horrendous death toll.)
Since great volumes of water will be thrown (despite
the fact that Thailand is in the throes of a drought) this does offer some
great photo opportunities, but unfortunately also presents some great
opportunities to permanently damage your expensive camera gear.
There are several ways around this problem. The first
is to go all out and buy a Nikonos underwater camera at the cost of many
thousands of baht. These are a wonderful underwater camera but for this
instance - totally impractical, unless you want to stand at the side of
the road in a full wet-suit!
The second way is to purchase a fancy plastic
underwater housing for your own camera. Now these can range in price,
depending on complexity. Built like a perspex box to house your camera,
you can operate all the adjustments from the outside. These are not cheap
either, and the cheapest in the range is literally a plastic bag with a
waterproof opening and a clear plastic section for the lens. You open it
up and literally drop your camera inside it and seal the bag. These can be
purchased from major photographic outlets and I did spot one in a
photo-shop for B. 750.
A third way is a waterproof disposable (yes, they do
make them). Good for about three meters, so perfectly suitable for
splashing water. If you can’t get one of those, then even the ordinary
cheap disposables are a better option than getting your good camera gear
doused. I must admit to having dropped one of these overboard one day and
the boatman jumped in and rescued it. It survived the dip and the final
pictures were fine. But neither I, nor the manufacturer, recommend this!
So now let’s get down to some serious photo
techniques to get that magic Songkran shot. Since you are trying to
capture the movement of the water, a slow shutter speed will help.
Hand-held you are probably not going to get down below 1/30th, but you
could try some at 1/15th, it’s not impossible, especially if you are
using a wide-angle lens.
However, since you are trying to get far enough away to
keep the camera dry, you may be forced to use the longer lenses which
means you cannot hand-hold at even 1/30th. The answer here is to find a
good vantage point, some distance from the action, and use a tripod.
If you are going down this route, then the best vantage
point is a high one. First floor balconies get you high enough to escape
the water, but not too high that you cannot get into the activity with a
150 mm lens or longer. Since you will be using a tripod, I would even set
the shutter speed slower than 1/30th, and a few ‘experimental’ shots
at 1/8th or even 1/4 of a second are worth trying. Remember that some
‘blurring’ denotes motion in the final photograph, and at Songkran
there is plenty of activity.
Finally, “Chok di bi mai! May your camera stay dry!”
Modern Medicine: To be or not to be - insured
by Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant
This is a perennial question. And a perennial
headache for private hospitals and those who end up in them! This is a subject I
have covered before, but well worth covering again.
As we get older, insurance becomes even more of a pressing
item. One of my friends dropped in the other day with an amusing piece about the
benefits of getting older. It had such gems as “In a hostage situation you are
likely to be released first” and “Your investment in health insurance is
finally beginning to pay off.”
At the outset, I must say I have never been one out of whom
insurance agents grow fat. It has always been my feeling that there was
something unbalanced about my attendant hangers on (AKA children) getting rich
at my expense when I meet my final demise. When you really analyse it, you
don’t even get to enjoy your own wake! No, if anyone is going to benefit from
my paying life insurance premiums every year, it is going to be me!
I have also been very lucky with my choice of careers. Being
a medico does have advantages. If I couldn’t fix my skin rash or whatever, I
could always ring a classmate who could (or should) be able to. Medications and
drugs? Again no worries, just a quick raid of the samples cupboard in my surgery
and I had everything I needed.
What about hospital insurance? I passed on that one too.
After all, the only foreseeable problems that could stop me working were massive
trauma following a road accident or suchlike, or a heart attack. In either case
you don’t care where you are as long as there are wall to wall running doctors
and plenty of pain killers. In Australia, the “free” public hospital system
is fine for that.
So I blithely carried on through life insuranceless. I did
spend one night in hospital with a broken leg 30 years ago, so as regards
personal medical costs versus proposed insurance premiums, I was still miles in
front.
And then I came to Thailand. Still I blithely carried on,
after all, I was ten foot tall and bullet proof. Then a friend over here had a
stroke and required hospitalisation. Said friend was four years younger than me
and I was forced to review the ten foot bullet proof situation to find I was
only five foot eleven and my kryptonite had expired. Thailand was a completely
new ballgame.
Enquiries as to hospital and medical costs showed that they
were considerably less than the equivalent in Oz, but, and here’s the big but,
there’s no government system or sickness benefits to fall back on. Suddenly
you are walking the tightrope and there’s no safety net to stop you hitting
terra firma.
So I took out medical insurance. Still it was no gold plated
cover. But it was enough to look after me if I needed hospitalisation, and that
came sooner than I imagined. I had always subscribed to the “major trauma”
theory, but two days of the galloping gutrot had me flat on my back with the IV
tube being my only life-line to the world. We are only mortal - even us
medico’s.
Do you have medical insurance? Perhaps it is time to chat to
a reputable insurance agent! Yes, reliable insurance agents and reliable
insurance companies do exist, but you need help through the minefield.
You also need help when it comes to filling out the
application forms, in my opinion. And you also need to be 100 percent truthful.
Yes, insurance companies will check on your records, and if it is found that you
have been sparing with the truth over pre-existing conditions, expect a shock at
settling up time at the cashier’s desk.
Remember too, that just because you have an insurance card
does not automatically signify that ‘everything’ is covered. This is why
private hospitals will ask you for a deposit on admission. If the insurance
company later verify that you are indeed covered for that ailment or condition,
then you’ll get it back, but you have to prove that you are covered, not the
other way round!
Learn to Live to Learn: Same, same but different
Part 1
with Andrew Watson
Paul Crouch shuns publicity. In his modest,
unassuming way, he prefers to let his students do the talking for him. Two weeks
ago, I was invited to meet a group of sixteen special students from The Regents
School, who are currently engaged in a pretty extraordinary undertaking. Mr
Crouch’s modesty is clearly contagious and is reflected in his group, who also
exhibit intelligence and initiative in abundance, devotion, cohesion and
downright joie de vivre.
Same
Same But Different – Regents Round Square students prepare for their
conference with confidence.
Charlie, Astrid, Neli, Liisa, Joe, Sara, Petch, Alex, Nics,
Girish, Natasha, Kyn Bak, Eline, Shruti, Thomas and Ishita are organising a
conference for 136 students from 13 ‘Round Square’ schools across the Asia
Pacific Region, which starts on Friday April 8 and runs via Koh Chang until
Thursday April 14. That’s some organisation.
The theme of the conference, “Same Same But Different”
reflects the students’ thoughts on the central purpose, to “celebrate
diversity”, through the ‘IDEALS’ of ‘Round Square’, a world-wide
association of successful international schools.
Round Square schools build their school life, both within and
beyond the curriculum, on six key values or pillars embodied in the acronym
‘IDEALS’. Its origins come from the philosophy of Kurt Hahn who taught that
schools should have a greater purpose - beyond preparing students for college
and university. He believed in educating every student into a whole person
through academic, physical, cultural and spiritual experiences.
Conference delegates are split up into eight groups and
explore IDEALS through activities, presentations and speeches. It’s a
demanding programme which will require stamina, enthusiasm and engagement.
For instance, Liisa in Year 12, Head Girl of Regents, is
making a speech and giving a presentation on stereotypes and prejudice with Dr
Michael Catalanello from Asian University.
The students talked with me about the conference and how they
felt IDEALS are expressed at Regents.
Students: ‘I’ is for ‘Internationalism’. Regents has
students from many different countries, including exchange programmes and the
Global Connect Scholarship Programme which brings students from Eastern European
countries. We appreciate different cultures and encourage understanding.
‘D’ is for ‘Democracy.’ We are empowered through the
Student Guild and we elect the chairperson and the secretary. We have Round
Square, of course, House captains and a Prefect system which helps make the link
between students and teachers. We discuss things and we have the opportunity to
express our views. Students have a lot of input.
AW: Is any part of the school autocratic?
Students: No comment.
‘E’ is for ‘Environment’. We learn to become aware of
the impact we have on the environment. We have a beach clean-up day for example.
AW: Is it enough to just make yourself aware?
Students: At least it’s a start. You can show people, but
in the end it’s up to them.
‘A’ is for ‘Adventure’.
AW: Regents has an enormous amount to offer students in this
regard. Can you give me some examples?
Students: Year 11 goes to Army camp, Year 10 to Kanchanaburi.
We have an outdoor centre on Koh Chang where you can enjoy kayaking, cycling,
triathlon, water sports. We also have service projects which involve adventure,
like hiking to hill tribes in Chiang Mai.
‘L’ is for ‘Leadership’. We’re all being leaders
right now.
AW: What does it mean to be a leader? What qualities do you
need? How are these encouraged in your school?
Students: To consider others, share views, organise, take
responsibility, use communication skills, sincerity. Sooner or later everyone
gets a certain responsibility, experiences some kind of leadership.
‘S’ is for ‘Service’. Our tsunami relief week raised
over half a million baht. We all contributed.
AW: Is that ‘it’ for the tsunami?
Students: No, not at all, we have ongoing stages of
assistance. ‘Fountain of life’ is another ongoing service project.
Continued next week…
 Heart to Heart with Hillary
Dear Hillary,
Now then, the top o’the morning my dearest sweet Hillary. It’s the first
time I’ve written to you Hillary because I have a serious matter to discuss
and I believe you can help. As all the readers are aware you are a connoisseur
of bon bons and the finest champagne and your advice on all matters involving
social etiquette is sought the length and breadth. Hillary can you tell me why
is it, that with all the technical advances these days, that on my recent
return visit to Ireland the place of my noble four fathers and my dear mother,
God bless her in heaven, that when I board the pressurised cabernet airliner
that they serve you.....wait for this ...WARM champagne? It has happened many
times to me Hillary! I wish we could turn the clock back and bring back the
glorious days of the Cunard Queens, they knew how to treat the ‘noblesse’.
When I could not stand it no more, Hillary, I asked, on the
airliner, why in heavens name it had to be so, my question was directed to the
Chief Butler, but he only talked some mumbo jumbo about sealed containers and
duty free tax regulations. Well why not put in some duty free ice as well I
say... what do you think Hillary?
Anyway, I must be off, as I have to practice the miracle of
turning water into wine as the good Book describes. I can tell you I have it
off pat in the reverse. Anyways I will keep practising, and as a sign of good
faith in your advice, I will make a miraculous deposit for you too in the Soi
of the Convent here in Bangkok.
I do look forward to receiving your reply to my letter.
I remain
Yours,
Charles De Cork Esq.
Dear Charlie,
Are you sure you haven’t written to me before? Your style reminds me of
someone many years ago who wrote to me extolling their virtues, commodities
that are very hard to find these days, I’m sure you’ll agree.
However, Charlie my Petal, your butler was quite correct
in refusing to place ice in the champers. Really! All you have to do is put the
bottle outside the plane for a minute or two, it’s minus 45 or something,
enough to freeze the nurglers off a predatory puma, to coin a phrase.
Yes, I remember the Cunard Queens with great fondness
too. Mind you, I’m working for Cunard these days. Very hard, indeed! Never
got a minute to myself, but you know this, being busy yourself performing the
wine into water ritual, though I would hardly call it a miracle, Charlie. I can
even do it myself on the odd occasion that somebody actually sends me some wine
to practice with. And before you ask, Spy Cooler doesn’t cut it, Petal.
I am interested in the fact that your four fathers came
from Ireland, as I presume you just had a small spelling mistake in your
letter, and what with Irish blood and all. Which father did you choose, and was
your mother quite sure that you were hers? It’s never too late to look into
these things.
Dear Hillary,
I am fed up for all this (gentlemen) complaining about the bar girls, I think
they all should be pay for a part by the social security and retirement funds
of the rich country, because they act like social workers helping all this old
people to finish their life in joy and happiness, helping them to shorten their
life in making those gentlemen overdrinking and one night difficult sporting
course, they are holy girl. Sorry for my english (sic) but you should do your
column in French. By the way Hillary which kind of woman are you the one with
panty or the other one?
Hercule Poirot
Dear ‘ercule,
Oh I do like Frenchmen, they are so gallant and so wonderfully biased! Why
should I do the column in French, my Petal? The newspaper is in English, and
that’s English with a capital E, not the lower case one. You Frenchmen just
can’t forget the Battle of Agincourt, and other such inglorious moments for
La Belle France, have you. Sorry, ‘ave you?
I think I managed to see your point, but I couldn’t
quite grasp it! Are you championing the girls because they are working like
social workers or geriatric nurses, or are you suggesting that they are being
instrumental in strengthening the argument for euthanasia? Or worse, are you
accusing them of secretly carrying out the ritual euthanasia of elderly
gentlemen in Thailand? I am sure that all the bar girls would agree with your
proposal that they be partly funded by the retirement funds of rich nations.
This might mean that fewer buffaloes get flogged to death (and elderly
gentlemen likewise)!
Now then, you little tease, asking me what sort of a
woman am I, and whether I wear panties? Oh, you are so naughty, you French! Of
course I wear panties, but on special occasions I wear French knicks, otherwise
I just wear English ones, in memory of the aforementioned Battle of Agincourt.
Winners are grinners ‘ercule.
Psychological Perspectives: The two faces of denial
by Michael Catalanello,
Ph.D.
During the course of our lives, a few
emotionally charged events seem to remain as fresh as if they had occurred
only yesterday.
For me, such an event took place on April 11, 1962. I
was a nerdy eleven year-old growing up in New Orleans. My best friend Teddy
had invited me to join the Boy Scouts. After school I phoned home from
Teddy’s house to ask my mother’s permission to join the troop. She
deferred answering, urgently instructing me to come directly home. I did.
When I arrived at home my mother was seated on her bed.
Her eyes were red and puffy. In her hand she clutched a wad of crumpled
tissues. My father, she told me, had passed away that morning. I don’t
remember much more of what she told me, but when we were done, I retired
alone to my bedroom. From there I could hear my mother sobbing
uncontrollably in the next room. I would hear her crying for many years
after that. I eventually cried too, but not for some time.
At first, I didn’t really believe my father had died,
or if he had died, I thought it was just a matter of time before he would
be back with us. At his funeral I can remember the thought occurring to me
that I must be in some terrible nightmare. I kept telling myself it would
soon be over and things would return to normal.
When I was a young boy, my father was a significant part
of my world. To the local community he was a celebrity, a widely known and
well loved radio personality. To me he was a warm and loving father, a
family man, larger than life. I could not imagine what my life would be
like without him. I can even remember developing elaborate plans for things
that I might do or say that would magically put an end to the horrible
nightmare and bring my father back to me. I missed him terribly. I still
do.
As time moved on, that kind of thinking occurred to me
less and less. The void that was created by my father’s death became
filled, to some degree by other people and events of the 1960s. My
father’s unexpected death at the age of 39 was a tremendous blow for me,
my mother and my four siblings, but we survived. In time, I learned to
accept that my father would not return.
This capacity we humans have to deny that an unpleasant
reality exists was formally recognized by the psychoanalytic theorist
Sigmund Freud. “Denial,” he believed, is one of a number of “defense
mechanisms” we use to prevent or reduce our experience of anxiety. Denial
can be quite useful in helping us function and cope when faced with events
that might otherwise be disabling. In this way, denial is viewed as a
valuable adaptive resource we can use, at least for a time, to help deal
with adversity.
There is, however, another face of denial. It can become
a serious liability if it persists long after the appearance of the
adversity, or interferes with vital functions. This was brought home to me
when I worked in a rehabilitation facility that treated individuals who had
suffered spinal cord injury, which results in muscle paralysis and loss of
body sensations. My colleagues and I learned to have a healthy respect for
the role of denial in helping those with new injuries cope with the medical
verdict that they would never walk again. There was, however, certain
knowledge and skills these patients needed to develop during their stay in
the facility. These skills would enable them to avoid debilitating and
life-threatening medical complications, such as bladder infections and
pressure sores. When denial resulted in a patient’s refusal to develop
these skills, we had to intervene. We learned to do so in such a way as to
encourage learning while leaving the patient’s hope for a miraculous
recovery intact, a sensitive balancing act.
On the surface, the denial of an unpleasant reality may
seem a bit crazy. It can keep an alcoholic, for example, from admitting the
severity of his addiction, a domestic abuser from seeking the necessary
help to change his abusive behavior, the family of a patient in a
persistent vegetative state opposing her right to die.
To be sure, modern psychology offers more elegant methods of handling
adversity and loss; however, such methods might not be readily available
when people need them most. In certain circumstances, such as that of an
eleven year old grieving the sudden loss of his father, denial could be
considered a benign, even healthy form of craziness.
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Dr. Catalanello is a licensed psychologist in his home State of Louisiana, USA, and a member of the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Asian University,
Chonburi. You may address questions and comments to him at [email protected], or post on his weblog at
http://asianupsych.blogspot.com
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Sound and Vision
By Justin
Trousers
 Movie
Miss Congeniality – Armed and Fabulous
The first Miss Congeniality movie was borderline awful;
another example of the sort of rubbish that Sandra Bullock signs up for on a
regular basis; which is a shame because she is a fine comedic actress given the
right material. But with takings of over $100 million a sequel was inevitable,
and it is now showing in Pattaya.
Bullock continues in her role as slightly incompetent FBI
agent with a laugh like a horse with a severe nasal condition. Impossible to
continue in her role as a field agent because everyone knows who she is (from
the first movie), she is assigned to be the public face of the FBI. When Miss
United States and the pageant MC (played again by William Shatner) are
kidnapped, Bullock and her obnoxious partner (Regina King) reluctantly join
forces to solve the case.
Bullock works very hard to keep the movie going. There are
some fun moments with King, Diedrich Bader is amusing as her very camp style
consultant; and somehow it is always enjoyable to see William Shatner away from
the Starship Enterprise. But none of this compensates for an over-long and
inconsequential story, padded out by contrived set pieces.
Overall, it’s a mildly entertaining and totally
forgettable movie experience. Miss Julie enjoyed it more than I did and
declared it a movie for cheerful young ladies and not grumpy old men like me.
DVD
The Final Cut
I have a friend called Ray who, to maintain his anonymity,
we will henceforth refer to as Chunky. Chunky has an unusual failing (he says
“ability”), he is incapable of sitting through a movie without falling
asleep. Doesn’t matter whether he is in a cinema, at home in front of a TV or
even (probably) in an aircraft in flames plunging into the sea, surrounded by
screaming passengers; give him a movie to watch and he will be asleep within
minutes. This was demonstrated to me most convincingly when we watched Black
Hawk Down. This is a movie which, after the initial scene setting, consists of
one long firefight including crashing helicopters and more weaponry than the
arsenals of most countries. The amplifier volume was at 11, the walls were
vibrating and neighbours were hammering on the door pleading for relief. You
get the message; it was loud. At the height of battle I heard what sounded like
a camel in labour. As I did not own a camel at that time, I turned to check it
out and discovered that it was Chunky snoring loudly! He awoke as the credits
rolled to pronounce it a fine movie; albeit with a confusing ending.
Much fun can be had by switching movies while he is asleep.
Start with Titanic and then change to the German submarine epic Das Boot once
he is in camel with contractions mode. He will look slightly confused upon
waking, but rather than admit sleep he will comment that Leonardo Di Caprio has
more than a passing resemblance to Jurgen Prochnow, and that he never realised
that the Titanic carried so many torpedoes.
Therefore it is with some trepidation that I consider a
cinematic recommendation from him, knowing as I do that there is no way he has
seen the movie all the way through. But he was insistent that I should watch
the Final Cut….
The Final Cut is released at a budget price in Thailand and
stars Robin Williams. Set in the future, many people have had implants put in
their brain which capture everything they see throughout their life. When they
die, a summary of their life is extracted from the implant and played at a
special “rememory” service. The character played by Williams is a
“cutter”, someone who is responsible for preparing the extract, taking out
the bad and boring bits and leaving the good; a bit like a home movie editor
with seventy years of tape to edit. All very unlikely; but does writer/director
Omar Naim make a good story out of it? Well, this could have been a promising
synopsis for a half hour episode of “The Twilight Zone”; but stretching it
to ninety minutes is, well; a stretch.
There is a relationship with a librarian, played by the
lovely Mira Sorvino which is never fully developed in the story. An event from
the cutter’s past is put up front at the start of the movie and is a
recurring theme; but is a distraction from the potentially more interesting
story about a resistance group who are fighting against the concept of the
implants. Had Naim concentrated on this aspect of the story and junked the
other sub-plots, he might have come up with something less muddled and mundane.
This movie would be more enjoyable if a cutter edited out
all the extraneous clutter. I suspect that, by falling asleep through
substantial parts of the movie, this is how Chunky managed to find it so
enjoyable.
Music
The Black Album
The latest, and purportedly last album from Jay-Z, a popular rap artist.
The White Album
One of the finer products from the Beatles, a popular pop combo from the 1960s.
The Grey album
An album produced by DJ Dangermouse who took the lyrics from
the Black album and then hacked around with the White Album to provide the
backing track to produce what could only be called The Grey Album.
After forty years of listening to the Beatles, their songs
are burned into my brain. It was interesting and refreshing to hear their music
remixed like this; familiar yet different at the same time. Although the vocals
track from Jay-Z is unchanged, the Beatles backing brings a changed emphasis to
his songs. Dangermouse has done a superb job in blending the two albums into a
cohesive whole.
Given that this was originally intended only as a
demonstration album for Dangermouse’s work, there are some sonic
imperfections, with the background noise on a few tracks hinting at a
collaboration between Jay-Z, the Beatles and a badger in a bucket. Even so,
this is a great album and deserving of the attention of your ears.
Ringo will love it because his percussion has been brought
up to date, and it sounds wonderful. Paul will love it because it could make a
load of money. Unfortunately EMI, who own the rights to the songs, decided they
did not like the idea at all and slapped “cease and desist” orders on
Dangermouse and anyone offering the album for download.
Not surprisingly, this upset the internet community who
proclaimed 24/2/05 as being “Grey Tuesday” and hundreds of sites made the
album available for download; too many for a coven of EMI lawyers to stop in a
single day. The result: one million plus downloads in a day and enough copies
now spread over the net that it is impossible to suppress the album.
So, you will not find the Grey Album in the shops. But you will find it on
the Internet if you are interested; together with some very smart cover art so
you can make up your own copy of the album. If you have problems finding it;
write me at [email protected] and I will point you in the right
direction.
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