One of the Best Films Ever Made

I've just seen a wonderful Swedish film, Pelle the Conqueror. In 1988, it won an Academy Award for best foreign language film. The following year, it won a Golden Globe.

Pelle tells the story of two Swedish immigrants, an old father and his young son, who immigrate to Denmark around 1900. Like many immigrants, they dream of a better life, but are met with obstacle after obstacle. The world will not allow the father even the smallest of victories--whether it's a second job offer, a home to sleep in with coffee on Sundays, or the power to protect his son from bullies. Yet, somehow, the film manages to avoid being overly sentimental. If you're looking for a classic tale of a father and his son, you should not miss this film.

Esther Ting

I didn't know Esther Ting. I don't usually read the obits, but this one caught my eye, and by the time I was done reading it, I was tearing up. Here is the obit:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/mercurynews/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=126321830

A friend's posts on Esther:

http://salcha.tumblr.com/post/96331972/in-loving-memory-of-esther-ting

http://salcha.tumblr.com/post/97737651/esther-ting

According to the above link (posted by Esther's friend on April 17, 2009), Esther died from a drug-related heart attack:

Now many of you are all wondering, how did Esther pass? What happened? Where, when, who..and so on...Wednesday April 8th, Esther overdosed on drugs which led to a heart attack. From what I heard from the nurse, she told me that they were able to resuscitate her, but her heart failed again and that’s when she passed.

Why would the world take a woman a few weeks before her 19th birthday? This makes no sense. It just makes no sense. May God help her family and those who were fortunate enough to know her.

NYT Immigration: "Remade in America"

The entire NYT series on immigration--called "Remade in America"--is fascinating. The link is below:

http://projects.nytimes.com/immigration/

Here's a so-so link linking countries and occupations:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/04/07/us/20090407-immigration-occupation.html

Some interesting points: Iran is under Asia rather than Middle East; and sales-related professions seem to be the most popular occupation.

NYT Immigration Chart

I am having way too much fun with this NYT immigration chart:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/10/us/20090310-immigration-explorer.html

You can get stats based on year (as far back as the 1800's!) and country.

Thanks to the NYT's Matthew Bloch and Robert Gebeloff.

Amica and Renter's Insurance

So it's 2AM on Saturday morning, I've just finished watching a terrible movie (Love, Honour and Obey, a BBC flick that came out in 2000), and I remember that a friend of mine told me to get renter's insurance.

Not being a materialistic type of person, I don't own that much expensive stuff, so I never bothered with renter's insurance. Well, as it turns out, renter's insurance is helpful because it also contains other components, like liability insurance. As my friend said, if you are walking and you accidentally bump an old lady into the street, causing her to die, your personal assets are at risk. That's where renter's insurance apparently comes in, to protect your personal assets. (Note: I do not own a home; otherwise, homeowner's insurance may have covered me.) It all seems counter-intuitive, but I guess it makes sense in the crazy world of insurance.

My friend recommended buying renter's insurance from my auto insurer to get a discount, but I decided to go with a different company. My auto insurer is Progressive, and they're not known for anything other than auto insurance. He also recommended buying an umbrella policy, but I forgot about that.

Anyway, I go online to find a good insurance company, and I stumble upon this website:

http://insurancenewsandviews.blogspot.com/

http://insurancenewsandviews.blogspot.com/2009/02/best-home-insurance-companies-usaa.html

I find that Chubb and Amica have good rankings (I'm not eligible for USAA, and Erie reminds me too much of a Civ Pro case), and I go with Amica. I log onto their website and use Amica's "live chat" feature. I get this great customer service rep who guides me through the process. Throughout the whole exchange, I am thinking, "This is great. It's almost 3:00AM right now, and this guy is alert and on the ball." Because of the time difference, I thought maybe the customer service rep was in India. At the end of the whole thing, I ask where he's from. Turns out he's from Spokane, WA.

Here's the exchange:

Matt: Given the time diff, I assume you're in India. What part of India are you in?

Matt: Gu[j]arat?

Joseph N.: Spokane, WA.

Matt: Oh, wow.

Matt: Very cool.

Joseph N.: We do it the hard way, graveyard, old fashioned right?

Matt: No wonder your English was perfect :-)

Matt: Damn good customer service, buddy.

Joseph N.: Thank you! We have people for you 24/7, so if you ever want to look at switching your auto let us know ;)

Joseph N.: I appreciate it!

Matt: Don't stay up too late. Have a good night.

Matt: Bye.

Joseph N.: You as well, goodbye.

I've always wondered if outsourcing customer service results in less overall quality. Of course, it depends on the individual, but perhaps there's something to be said for encouraging live, domestic customer service. I ended up buying the policy. I pay by credit card on Monday.

Oh, I learned a new word, too: "binding." A verbal confirmation of insurance coverage is called "binding"--as in, "I can bind the policy effective today." Who knew?

I am off to bed.

Update: the NYT just had an interesting article on insurance:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/your-money/life-and-disability-insurance/18wealth.html

Blog Referral

I'm still recovering from tax day, so not much writing for me today. But here's a blog I just found:

http://undomesticmama.typepad.com/the_undomestic_mama/

It's mainly about econ, of course.

Susan Boyle

Susan Boyle's excellent rendition of a Les Miserables song has made her popular beyond her wildest imagination. It strikes me as odd why no one is mentioning the sad lyrics to her song. I've included the lyrics below. If one reason for Ms. Boyle's excellent performance is that the lyrics hold some truth for her, then I would feel quite sad. Having said that, I hope Ms. Boyle wins.

Lyrics to "I Dreamed a Dream"

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.

Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used
And wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung
No wine untasted.

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame.

And still
I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms
We cannot weather...

I had a dream my life would be
So different form this hell I'm living
so different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed
The dream I dreamed.

___________

Another singer of the same song is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt-IBJpEMzA