Toyota in the doghouse

Looking back at my blog, I'm actually surprised that I haven't talked before about the problems which Toyota have recently been facing. When the initial incident with Lexus exploded in the news after the 911 recording came to light, things looked bad for Toyota. But to be honest, at the time, I thought that it was likely a one off incident given Toyota's track record for quality (when I say one off incident, I mean that I thought it was only limited to the Lexus).

And then the issues around the brakes on the Prius started to surface. At this point, I have to admit that I was really glad that I had bought a Honda. With so many safety incidents involving different Toyota models, I can't help but think that, for either poor engineering or poor design or any other reason, the problem seems to be with Toyota itself rather than with a particular model of car. And if this is the case, then its likely that a lot of their other cars are going to have problems crop up sooner or later (if I was really cynical, I might even think that those problems have already cropped up but have been ignored by Toyota as they haven't gotten much media attention yet).

As you probably already know, Congress in the USA appear to be casting their eye over the recent troubles with Toyota. While doing my daily trawl of news, I came across this video on The Consumerist of an owner describing her near brush with death in a Lexus way back in 2006. Her account of her experience is really scary - not just with how close she came to death but also with how casually Toyota seem to have treated the problem.

At this stage, I should give the usual caveats. I have no idea if she is telling the truth and I have no idea if the incident really occured the way she described (for example, she may have panicked and not really have an idea of what she did or didn't do). All I have to go on is the news and what you see in that video.

However, looking at her in that video, it seems to me like her story has the ring of truth to it. Bear in mind, this isn't an isolated incident. There appear to have been many complaints about this issue from many people and a lot of the complaints seem to run in a similar vein. Also, although I'm sure she would have been terrified, I don't think she completely panicked as she had enough sense of mind to call her husband (this is based on my guess that if I panicked in a situation like that, I wouldn't be able to do anything other than wrestle with the car).

All in all, a real black eye for Toyota. The big 3 US auto companies must be laughing their asses off by now.

Lounging around in Phuket - part 2

Some more pictures of our recent trip to Thailand.


We actually let Gerry attend two of the cookie making classes. This is Gerry from the following day eating his second batch of cookies. Considering how much he enjoyed making the cookies, maybe I should buy some cookie cutters myself!


After eating his cookies, he finally comes to me for a photo op. For some reason, he tends to avoid me when he has cookies that he doesn't want to share. Can't think why...


One of the better activities which the kids club ran was a kids mocktail class. This was really fun for Gerry as he was allowed to put a mix of orange juice, apple juice, lime juice, syrup, green colouring and ice into the cocktail mixer before giving it a good shake.


Here you can see him with his finished drink. No idea what its called though!


Somehow, at some point while he was in Phuket, Gerry managed to get hold of his own personal laptop. Not sure but I think he may be surfing the web here!

Lounging around in Phuket - part 1

Sawasdee and Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Back from a week long holiday in Phuket, Thailand with the missus and Gerry. Got back just in time to share in the chilly Chinese New Year weather in Hong Kong. The weather in Phuket was lovely with brilliant blue skies and not a rain cloud or cold weather front in sight. Boy do I wish I was still there.

Ah well, que sera sera.

We stayed in one of the serviced apartments in the Marriott resort hotel and as such, spend most of our time there. Every day was pretty much spent swimming, watching DVDs (which we borrowed from the Kids Club) or hanging around in the Kids Club watching Gerry play. All in all, a great holiday!


One of the activities in the kids club was a Kids Yoga class. This was actually quite interesting to watch as Gerry would try and contort his body to follow the instructor. Towards the end though, he just gave up and stood there watching.


Some downtime for me. :)


Some downtime for the missus (watching TV in the Kids Club with Gerry). That beanbag doesn't look big enough to be super comfy though.


Another cookie making class! This wasn't as much fun as the one by Disney that Gerry went to while back. Also, we weren't able to get all the cookies that Gerry made as the cooking was all done in the main hotel kitchen without any labels to identify which cookie belonged to which kid. Still, it was free so I guess I can't really complain.


A simple meal of pasta in chicken soup with some pan grilled sausages (with some cooked fresh veggies just out of shot). One of the simple home cooked meals that we made for Gerry while we were there. The advantage of staying in the serviced apartments is that we could prepare some simple home cooked food for Gerry which was quite a big consideration for us in deciding where to go.

Scott McCarron

For those who follow PGA Tour golfing, you would know that, last week, Scott McCarron kicked off a storm of controversy by accusing Phil Mickelson of cheating (although he has now apologised for doing so). In essence, wedges with square grooves are no longer allowed in PGA Tour golf. However, due to a loophole arising from a court case, a 20 year old Ping wedge with square grooves is allowed. Phil Mickelson took advantage of this loophole and used the old Ping wedge.

In an interview, Scott was asked what he thought of players like Phil using the old Ping wedges. Scott basically replied "It's cheating and I am appalled Phil has put it in play." This caused a shitstorm of controversy in the golf world and a couple of days later, after "careful contemplation", Scott McCarron came out with a new statement basically saying that he stands by his previous comments but that he never called Phil a cheater.

Yeah.

A couple of points before I get into this. I don't follow golf so I don't know much about this issue or the people involved. I only noticed it as the headline of the article in the paper was "I won't be silenced, says McCarron" which is a good headline in that it made me think it was related to civil rights. As this was in the sports section of the newspaper, which isn't the normal place for articles regarding civil rights, it piqued my interest which resulted in me reading the article which also goes to prove how important a good headline is.

Anyway, considering that the loophole allows the use of the old Ping wedges, how does that count as cheating? Let me put that in a different way - NO RULES ARE BEING BROKEN. Sure, you could try to argue that its slimy and that it isn't in the "spirit" of the game, but that's completely different from cheating. And if Scott had left it there, I would probably have nothing to talk about. His initial response was in an interview and in a situation like that, he could well have used words that he didn't really intend as a result of his passion about the issue.

However, what I found hilarious is that after "two days of contemplation", he actually had the gall to come out and say that he stands by his previous comments and that he didn't actually accuse Phil Mickelson of cheating. Really?

Lets revisit what he said.

When asked what he thought of Phil and other players using the old Ping wedges, Scott's response was "It's cheating [emphasis added] and I am appalled Phil has put it in play". Now, to be fair, reporters can sometimes be evil/lazy (yeah - I went there!) and you can't always trust what they write. Also, to be fair, I'm not an expert in the English language. But unless Scott is being misquoted, that really sounds like he just labelled Phil and a bunch of other players as cheats.

Considering he is making this statement a couple of days after the interview, he no longer has the excuse of being put on the spot in an interview situation. In fact, his statement just makes him sound like a moron (or does he think we're morons?). As far as I can tell, he very clearly labelled anyone using the old Ping wedges as cheaters and I would love to hear any kind of argument otherwise.

Anyway, as I mentioned above, Scott McCarron has now apologised for his comments so I guess that's the end of this particular controversy.

Also, I'm a little surprised that a professional golf player and 16 year Tour veteran would be a scrub.

My movie "review" methodology

So, in my last post, I gave a link to a 70 minute video review of The Phantom Menace. Part of the reason for that was because I saw Avatar (in 4D no less!).

First off, I should mention that I really enjoyed watching Avatar. I thought it was a good movie with some great visuals although it was a bit heavy handed with the "commercialism is bad" message. Also, judging from the headache that I got as I came out of the movie theatre, I can guarantee that I won't be watching a lot of 3D movies.

And that is pretty much the extent of any "review" that I generally do for movies. You see, I don't do movie reviews because I don't like to analyse movies and movie plots. In many ways, I'm the perfect hollywood target as, when I go to watch a "summer blockbuster" movie, it only needs to get three things right:

1) Characters that are reasonable enough that I can suspend disbelief
2) Plot that is reasonable enough that I can suspend disbelief
3) Some great action/special effects set pieces that go well with popcorn

You can see from the above that I am already doing my best to help the movie by willingly trying to suspend disbelief. The movie doesn't need great character or a great plot - as long as there is enough there that I can suspend disbelief, then I will probably enjoy the movie. I should add that I do enjoy good characters and plot - I just don't need them in order to enjoy a movie.

In the case of Phantom Menace, I hated some of the characters, which is a real problem when those characters are major plot characters, and felt the plot was ridiculous. This is why, despite a tick against point 3, I was disappointed with Phantom Menace overall. However, in Avatar, it gets just enough right that it ticks off all 3 above although it goes without saying that your mileage will vary depending on what you consider reasonable character and plot.

Review of Phantom Menace (not by me)

As you all know, I'm a huge Star Wars fan. I loved the original trilogy and, even now, can probably retell the story of the original trilogy at a moments notice. It goes without saying that I have the original trilogy on DVD and used to have them on VHS as well.

Unfortunately, as with many Star Wars fans, I wasn't particularly impressed with The Phantom Menace or the new trilogy in general, although I will admit that I kinda liked the third movie. The biggest indicator of my lack of interest is that I have no compulsion to buy the new trilogy - at all. For me, the only thing that makes Phantom Menace worth rewatching is the special effects and lightsaber combat scenes and that just ain't worth spending money on (although maybe I should buy them anyway so I have a copy of the movies before George Lucas makes them even worse by re-editing them).

Anyway, back to the point. For myself, I just didn't like the characters (absolutedly hated Jar Jar and "Ani") and felt the storyline, and the ending in particular, was just ridiculous. However, beyond that, I've never been able to really articulate why the movie didn't resonate with me.

Now I can.

I can't believe that I've only just come across this but this is by far the best review of Phantom Menace that I've seen so far. The review itself lasts 70 minutes so its really detailed and it does wander off into ... strange ... territory occasionally. However, I couldn't help but find myself constantly nodding my head in agreement as I was watching it.