Seeing Simon return, Jennifer handed the two little ones to the waitresses, left the swimming pool, walked over and sat down on the lounge chair next to her, noticed the documents on the round table, and asked Simon: "Are you going to support the ITER project?"
"Our family's money does not fall from the sky, but maybe, the key is to see whether the interests of the Westeros family can be guaranteed. I have no intention of being charitable in this kind of thing," Simon said , and asked Janet next to him: "Baby, what do you think?"
Janet's cool body pressed against Simon, who had just taken off his shirt and trousers, and said: "Actually, I think the development of controllable nuclear fusion is a misunderstanding."
The female assistant had obviously read the information: "You mean, Tokamak?"
"It's the entire controllable nuclear fusion plan," Janet said, raising her little finger to point to the sky outside the parasol: "Actually, our planet has been enjoying controllable nuclear fusion energy for billions of years. I don't think there is anything like it. The energy provided by the sun is more stable."
Simon and Jennifer looked at the sky together, suddenly feeling a little enlightened.
According to Janet's thinking, mankind has obviously continued to obtain inexhaustible 'controllable nuclear fusion' energy, and yet it still needs to invest in research and development. This is indeed a bit of a misunderstanding.
Perhaps what we should do instead is consider how to maximize the use of solar energy.
Not to mention the huge biological cycle system of the earth under the sun, the application of solar energy by humans in modern society has long appeared. The most typical one with the greatest development potential is undoubtedly the solar photovoltaic power generation system.
However, until now, and even many years later in Simon's memory, photovoltaic power generation has not been able to get rid of one shackle: that is, the solar energy converted by the photovoltaic power generation system during its life cycle has never exceeded the consumption in the production process of photovoltaic products. total amount of energy.
Not only that, the production of photovoltaic products and the disposal of the products after they are scrapped will be accompanied by very serious pollution.
Therefore, the so-called clean energy argument is very unreliable.
Many wealthy people install expensive solar power systems in their luxury homes to promote themselves as environmentalists. In fact, this is just like flying in private jets to attend environmental rallies. It is not environmentally friendly at all.
Only when the solar energy converted per unit volume of photovoltaic products during its life cycle far exceeds the investment in each link of the product itself, can humans truly utilize sustainable solar energy.
This is an idea.
Simon sat up, and while continuing to chat with the two women, he motioned to Girl A, who was not far away, to come over, write down the thoughts he just had, and collect some relevant information as soon as possible.
Photovoltaic products will begin to explode after the new century.
This is also a good investment direction.
Simon has always believed that if an industry wants to develop rapidly, a sustainable business model is far more effective than talking about ideals and playing gimmicks.
Just as he was talking, Melbourne climbed out of the swimming pool under the care of the maid, ran to Simon with a little yellow duck in his hand, held up the little yellow duck in his hand and said to Simon expectantly: "Dad. ,Duck."
Simon took the little yellow duck handed over by his son and asked with a smile: "What's wrong, baby?"
"Dad, can I get a real duckling?"
Simon played with the little yellow duck in his hand and nodded without hesitation: "Of course." Seeing the light in the little guy's eyes, Simon quickly added: "But if you really raise a little duck, you will be needed. I'll take care of it personally, would you like to have it, Moore?"
Melbourne nodded without hesitation: "If you like, I can feed the ducklings every day."
Simon shook his head: "It's not just that. Little ducks are not as smart as us humans. They will poop everywhere. If they make our house dirty, since it is Moer's duck, you have to be responsible for cleaning it up."
The little guy hesitated for a moment. He looked at his mother who sat up next to Simon and looked at his mother with a smile. Then he turned to the other mother next to him, and finally pointed to the Indian girl behind him very smartly: "Ali can clean up the daddy, she is a servant. .”
Simon shook his head again and said: "This is not possible. Ali is a servant of Mom and Dad, because her salary is paid by Mom and Dad, not you. Only when you grow up and make money yourself can you hire your own servants to do things for you. Now. Well, you have to do everything by yourself, so, honey, do you still want to raise ducks?"
The little guy hesitated for a moment, but probably feeling the encouragement in the eyes of his father and two mothers, he quickly nodded: "Yes."
Simon smiled and hugged his son and kissed the little guy on the forehead: "Very good. He is willing to take on his responsibilities. This shows that Moer has begun to become a man. Dad will have someone send Moer a little duck this afternoon. .”
Hearing his father's praise, the little guy was very happy and said: "Dad, I want to keep the little duck in the swimming pool."
"It still won't work. The little duck is very dirty. If it poops in the swimming pool, no one can take a bath. However, we can build a special swimming pool for the little duck elsewhere in the house."
Melbourne thought for a moment and felt that what his father said made sense, so he nodded again.
Zoe Parks and Nancy Gauff came over with several coconuts while the father and son were talking. Janet, who was lying on Simon's back, took a coconut and handed it over to Simon to help hold it. Her head was pressed against the man's. Holding the straw on his shoulder, he took a few sips. Seeing the little guy nodding, he put the straw to Simon's mouth and said to his son with a smirk on his face: "Also, baby, have you ever thought about how the duck has grown up?" what to do?"
Just as Melbourne looked over in confusion, Simon had already put the straw back into Janet's mouth.
For a little guy over three years old, it’s not time to take one step at a time.
Jennifer on the other side also noticed Janet's intention, glared at her angrily, stood up and pulled Melbourne back towards the swimming pool.
After her son walked away, Janet put the straw back into Simon's mouth, turned to Zoe next to her and said, "I want to eat roast duck tonight."
Simon stretched out his hand and slapped Janet on the buttocks. He ignored the woman's coquettish show of pretending to be in pain. After thinking about it, he said to Zoe: "Find two wild duck eggs. Remember they are wild ducks, the kind that can fly. Then do it." An incubator will be delivered this afternoon."
Zoe agreed, looked at Janet carefully, and asked Simon: "Boss, do you want to eat roast duck again?"
"No, don't eat it for the next two years." Simon said, and said to the humming Janet: "If you want to eat it, go outside to eat it."
Janet said a few words, no longer tired of being next to Simon, stood up and walked to the deep end of the swimming pool, jumping in like a mermaid with a slight jump.
Simon didn't join in the fun and leaned back on the lounge chair. Seeing Zoe and Qu Si each holding two other coconuts, he pointed to the round table next to him: "Just put it here. You can go and play too."
The two women put down the coconuts obediently and walked to the swimming pool together.
While drinking coconut water, Simon was thinking about his recent meeting with Semel and the topic they had just discussed, and occasionally said a few words to Lady A who was standing aside.
In the afternoon, there were two more carefully selected wild duck eggs at home.
Simon hopes that through the birth, growth and final departure of two little lives, he can teach his son something, such as love, responsibility, persistence and independence.
Simon has always felt that no matter how much knowledge is crammed into children, it is not as good as cultivating a good character.
Character determines destiny.
After the weekend, Simon didn't leave Los Angeles again in the new week. Even if there were many things Simon needed to focus on on the East Coast or in San Francisco, all the trips were cancelled.
I plan to stay at home for the next month.
The main thing is that Sofia's due date is in August, and Simon will go to Europe to accompany the childbirth for a while.
After Terry Semel revealed to Simon the news about the dinner meeting between Jack Welch, the head of General Electric, and Gerald Levin, the chairman of Time Warner Group, Simon heard no more related rumors for the next few days. , and didn’t deliberately inquire about it.
If General Electric can really acquire Time Warner, although Daenerys will have a strong opponent, overall, it is still a good thing.
With the two powers standing side by side, Daenerys Entertainment will be under much less potential pressure.
Moreover, judging from the information in his memory, even if this merger can really be completed, Simon does not think that GE can manage such a huge media asset.
There may not be big problems when Jack Welch is in office. There is no doubt about the ability of this legendary professional manager.
However, in memory, Jack Welch will retire in 2000.
The year 2000 also became a turning point in General Electric's prosperity and decline.
On the other hand, after being inspired by Janet on Saturday and carefully studying the information collected by Girl A, Simon quickly listed the photovoltaic industry as a key area of focus in the Westeros system. Although photovoltaic products are unlikely to break through certain constraints for a long time in the future, the gimmick of clean energy is still very easy for people to accept.
Simon also began to increase research and development in the field of rechargeable batteries, mainly lithium batteries.
In fact, Tinker Bayer is already doing this.
At this stage, several of Tinco Bayer's flagship products still use traditional disposable batteries as energy sources, which is very inconsistent with Simon's environmental protection concept.
Although he never publicizes it to the outside world, Simon is indeed an environmentalist at heart.
When he was very young in his previous life, he learned about the serious pollution of disposable nickel-cadmium batteries, and Simon began to deliberately avoid using these products.
There are many solutions for rechargeable batteries at this stage. Simon directly chose lithium batteries, which can be said to avoid many detours. He hopes that in the next two to three years, Tinker Bayer can at least release rechargeable lithium batteries suitable for its own products. The product is considered a kind of peripheral, and the gimmick has been thought out, and it is environmentally friendly.
Of course, Tinker Bayer certainly does not have the ability to produce its own products, so it still has to OEM.
Whether it is Westeros, Tinker Bayer, or even Igret, they have already invested in some lithium battery companies. Inspired by the photovoltaic industry, Simon plans to further increase investment and even consider acquiring IBM's battery research and development and The production department is mainly for technology and patents.
As an old electronics giant, IBM and other companies, like Japan's Panasonic, Toshiba, etc., have a complete industry chain that can be self-sufficient. For an IBM computer, IBM at this stage can produce most of its components by itself, even the CPU.
However, Japanese companies have preserved their complete industrial chains for many years, while European and American companies have been divesting and selling them for various reasons, and many have simply axed them. This did streamline costs and improve efficiency, but it also missed many opportunities. Simon does not intend to reverse the future world manufacturing pattern. What he wants to do is to seize some of the most profitable industries as much as possible based on his prophetic advantages.
On the other hand, the North American summer season began to slow down after the Independence Day holiday.
During the second week of the Independence Day holiday on July 7, two new films were released in North American theaters. One was the NC-17 new film "Showgirls" produced by Carlock and released by Paramount. It was Charlize Theron last year. The R-rated movie that I almost starred in was Daenerys's New World Pictures' "The Three Steps to Kill". This is Robert Rodriguez's remake of his own "Elegy", which is worth noting. The thing is, here is a 'trilogy', not a 'trilogy' of three movies.
Due to the popularity of "Elegy" a few years ago, New World Pictures provided 2,027 opening screens for "Trilogy of Murder". This B-level film with a production budget of US$7 million successfully earned 1,103 in its first week of seven days. With a box office of US$10,000, the total local box office is expected to be between US$25 million and US$30 million.
Of course it can't compare with Daenerys' two summer hits, but it's still a good success.
The other one, "Showgirls," is much more miserable.
This NC-17 film about the Las Vegas dance show industry cost 45 million US dollars. After it was released, it was criticized because of its large scale. Even though it was difficult to resist a large number of wolf friends who bought tickets to enter the theater, it was available for seven days in the first week. In the end, the box office was only US$9.07 million, and there is little hope that the local box office will exceed US$20 million.
Carlock Pictures, which had been burning money relying on overseas tax avoidance capital, was not distressed after the box office failure of "Showgirls". It only had one super blockbuster "Cutthroat Island" in cooperation with Paramount. Simon had personally After launching this project, I have been quietly paying attention to it since it was established. The film is basically certain to be released by the end of the year. Once it fails like the original time and space, Carlock, a money-burning player, will completely withdraw from the Hollywood stage.
Then, July 14th, another box office week, this time there were still two new films.
MGM's school comedy "Clueless," directed by "Up and Down" director Amy Heckerling, tells the story of a fashionable rich girl from an aristocratic Beverly school who transforms a new, frumpy female classmate. The film's reputation seems to be Not much, but in fact, in Simon's memory, "Clueless" had a clear influence on many youth campus comedies such as the later hit "Mean Girls".
Simon originally canceled the sequel to "Up and Down", and several other projects directed by Amy Heckerling in recent years have not been successful, so the budget of this new film is only $12 million.
This is also in line with Simon's positioning of MGM.
In addition to a few blockbuster films that Simon personally approved, MGM still mainly produces mid- to low-cost films.
This summer, MGM released three movies, "Clueless," "King of Fighters" and "Network," all with budgets within $30 million.
Because they are too small, in order to avoid being crushed by the blockbusters in the early part of the summer season, MGM's three new films have been placed at the back end of the summer season. "Clueless" on July 14 is the first one. Next, "The King of Fighters" adapted from the game is scheduled to be released on July 28. At the same time as Warner's "Waterworld", the hacker-themed movie "Cyber" starring Sandra Bullock is scheduled to be released on August 11.
In addition to "Clueless", another new film is the action film "Rampage 2" starring Steven Seagal produced by Warner Bros. After the success of the first film at the box office, the cost of the sequel increased to US$60 million, standard bombshell level.