DVD Verdict Review - The Star Wars Trilogy

DVD Verdict Review - The Star Wars Trilogy: "There is a silly streak of disingenuousness that runs throughout Lucas's desire to redefine his films, something that comes across rather strongly in the commentary track. Once you get past Carrie Fisher's drug-flashback banter and effects guys Dennis Muren and Ben Burtt (visual and sound, respectively) blow-by-blow descriptions, you are left with a battle of revisionist wills between Lucas and Kershner, and the dichotomy is very clear. Kershner is lively and energetic, explaining why certain elements needed to be added and how difficult it was to envision some of the overall action. He is making his movie for all time, not just a particular demographic. Lucas, on the other hand, is apologetic and direct, worrying that this new vision is still too intense and dark 'for kids.' Those last two words appear a great many times in George's narrative, covering everything from why the movies received the special edition treatment, to situations that still bother him. While it's great to hear him finally comment on the sagas that solidified his own cinematic empire, it's disheartening to hear his constant concern for the juveniles. The fallacy here is that, while children do make up a nice component of the Star Wars fan-base, it was teenage and adult filmgoers that drove the box office. Where were the tykes lining up for Episode I six months before it opened? Lucas fails to recognize that Star Wars is more than just a children's matinee, and this has been the rationale behind many of his most misguided decisions."

Amen!

Well, I was wrong

I just made another contribution to South Australia's coffers today, thanks to the nice policeman waiting for me with his laser gun at the bottom of the hill. For a long time, I've complained that the majority of speed enforcement is carried out in rush hour - morning and afternoon - and that this is because there's more targets to scalp rather than more accidents to prevent. However, looking at the Motor Accident Commission's website, I came across this report, which clearly shows that casualty accidents occur most frequently during rush hour. (See Table 7 and Figure 7.) Crashes drop off markedly after 6pm.

So it would appear that rush hour really is the most dangerous time to drive in South Australia, and therefore, that speed enforcement should be concentrated around that time.

There's lots of other interesting data in that report. Like how crashes rise steadily from Monday to Friday; presumably as we get tired and stressed during the week. Even more interesting, Table 18 shows that:

• 30 fatalaties were caused by excessive speed,
• 37 by inattention,
• 40 by DUI,
• 1 by dying sick or asleep at wheel,
• 3 by a vehicle fault,
• 36 by "disobeying road rules",
• 3 drunken pedestrians, and
• 4 "other",

for a total of 154 fatalities.

Do you get breathalysed as often as you pass a speed camera?
Do you get checked obeying the road rules as often as you pass a speed camera?
Do you get checked specifically for inattention as often as you pass a speed camera?

No, saying that if you slowed down you wouldn't have got a fine and thus proved you were paying attention doesn't count. You should be looking at the road, not searching for police hidden behind bushes, building and bus stops, or scanning every recent model Falcon/Commodore/Magna for a little black box as you pass it.

More on Manuals vs Automatics

Strange thing - with the 6 speed manual SS, I have to drive very very conservatively to achieve 15 to 15.5 litres per 100 km.  With the 4 speed auto Monaro, I drove it like I stole it, and the worst I could achieve was 15.5.  It was very easy to keep it into the 13's.  Why such a major difference?  Maybe it's diff ratio, maybe it's because the Monaro has 6,000 km on the clock and the SS only has 1600?  Who knows.

Name collisions

My name isn't all that common.  Not incredibly unusual, but I'm certainly no John Smith.  At Holden, there's another person with me exact same name, including middle initial.  This is causing problems with email addresses, misdelivered mail, and so on.  It turns out that the other "me" is moving location within Holden, so that will cause more upheaval.  And in a quirk of fate, they have hired a new person in his department - who also shares our name.  I'm looking forward to that!

Manuals vs. Automatics

Now that I work for Holden, I have a nice car. It's a 5.7 litre V8, with a 6 speed manual. This weekend, they gave me the chance to drive another nice car - also a 5.7 litre V8, but with the venerable 4L60 4 speed auto.

Now, the criticism of the 4 speed auto is widespread, given the more modern automatics now driving on our roads. And, jumping from a manual to an auto for the first time (since getting the manual) there is a strange feeling of lack of control and waiting for the auto to pick a gear. Also, if you change your mind mid corner and want to accelerate more, it won't drop down a gear for you.

However, I'm still not convinced that 99 times out of 100 the auto won't be quicker in real world conditions - I'm talking point to point. With time, I got to learn the exact accelerator pedal actions that would make old Betsy (bless her) do exactly what I want. I'm sure I'd do the same with the Monaro, given time. Also - and this is what people forget - if I wanted to change how much I accelerated mid corner in the manual, I'd need to change gears mid corner, which costs speed and time.

There's also an element of what I call "The Shortcut Trap" - things seem to take less time when they're more interesting. In an Auto, you decide, you press the pedal, and you wait. This waiting time is very obvious, even though most manuals change very much quicker than most people can or do. In a manual, the time to enact the change is taken up with you changing gears, de clutching and getting ready. Distraction's a wonderful thing.

If I know beforehand exactly what I want to, then yes, the manual will be much better. However, in a changing world the time between decision and consequence is less in the auto, I'm sure. And this is with an automatic widely regarded as getting to its use-by date. Can't wait to have an extended drive with a modern 5 speed auto.

And as a bonus, if everyone drove an auto you would not get the GO!-wait-GO!-wait-GO!-wait when some dickhead at the front of the queue takes forever to change gears. Ay carumba!

Televisions

So, I'm thinking about buying a new TV. The faithful 48cm TEAC that Gary (a former flatmate) gave me years ago is still going on strong, but now I've got into the DVD / Surround Sound era, it's just not cutting it for widescreen.

The number of people wandering around Harvey Norman trying to spend four or five thousand dollars on a TV amazes me. And it's not like they looked they were doctors or lawyers or such - then again, Australia's Full time adult ordinary time earnings are higher than I thought - nearly $50,000 per annum in February 2004.

Anyway, Big W are selling an AWA 80cm TV for $698. Model W8070AV. AWA, once a leader in Australia's electronic industry are now a gaming and IT services company. So, there's no help from them - the AWA TV is made in China and imported under licence by Big W itself.

Does anyone know how to find out any more information about these TVs? Do they ues a commodity tube, as is common in Yum-Cha computer monitors? Let me know!

Second post!

Oh, more things:

• I tried, really I did, to like Star Wars: Battlefront (PC Version). However, I just reinforced the conclusion that I've poured $100 down the drain. Plus $100 for a joystick for which Battlefront seems to be incredibly poorly supportive. Whatever happened to X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter? That's the game I want to play. George Lucas (and Lucasarts) need a good hard kick in the nuts for everything they've done to Star Wars in the last decade.
• And I annoyed some Mormons who ambushed me while I was gardening out the front this morning. If I wanted to go to church, I will take myself thank you very much.

First post

Things of note to happen today:

• I started this Blog.
• I went for a couple of drives in a sexy purple (Cosmo) Monaro that I have for the weekend.
• Brisbane lost, badly, to Port Adeliade in the AFL grand final, ruining their chances of 4 in a row. Bloody Adelaide will be unbearable for weeks.
• I miss Leonie. A lot.