su·per·cil·i·ous

My boss was on a plane all day today, so I decided to take a day in lieu and try to get my head around a few things but at the end of the day I headed off to check out the new M. Night Shyamalam flick The Happening. It stars Mark Wahlberg - for whom my estimation has risen significantly over recent years. But I have to ask why Mark would have agreed to do this film after having read the script. It is just attrocious. The major problem is that the ending is such a cop-out; without Shyamalam putting any effort into his trademark twist. Not even worth checking out on DVD in my opinion.

The rest of the country appears to have caught up with my pessimism of the last few months, with a survey out today revealing that consumer confidence levels have crashed to their lowest levels since the recession in the 1990s. The number of people who think their working conditions will get worse has doubled in the last six months - from about 18% to 43% - on the back of soaring petrol prices and interest rate hikes. What will be hilarious though - is that many people in the electorate will blame this on the Rudd government; even though the problems of today can be squarely levelled at the direction that the Howard government took the country and world economic effects not under the control of any one government. Lets hope that not everyone falls for this kind of idiotic logic.

On a more fiscally responsible note we hear that Renault is thinking about importing a $10000 car into Australia form next year. The car is current sold in South America as the Dacia model Sandero - aimed at young buyers; but with people wanting to tighten belts it might get a wider market. Renault will open its first right hand drive plant in Romania; and it is also planning for a South African plant to start building the car - some of which are likely to make their way to Australia - but with a Renault badge (in case you have never heard of Dacia - its a Romanian car company - owned by the French giant).