The following is in reply to my article on home theater systems:

A friend of mine has been consumed by all these life changing electronic "systems". Computers, video games; you name it he had to have it. Funny thing is he never had it for very long, it was always sold for a better model a couple of month's later. As for his home stereo system - lets just say that in the ten years or eleven years I've known him, I can't recall watching a movie from beginning to end. No matter how incredible the system, nothing can beat a simple night with my 19" Magnavox, a video, and perhaps a funny cigarette, tucked away in my tiny apartment by the lake.

Your site is inspiring,

Good luck!

By the way, you seemed to know quite a bit on the home theater systems! Is that a result of research or have you yourself been played by the famous Eighty Eight Fingers Louie?

The whole DVD format with its "chapters" and "skip to a selected scene" menu seems to encourage your friend's manner of viewing. It's somewhat ironic that the same format which stresses viewing a movie in the manner "the director intended" with the wide availability of letterboxed versions also cheapens the product by encouraging rampant scene sampling.

I also know what you mean about enjoying movies on a 19" TV set. Some of the best times I have listening to music occur while I'm driving in my car listening to the radio on an inexpensive original-equipment stereo. But try telling that to an audiophile.

Yes, I do own a home theater system. Most of what's in my article derives from my personal experiences. Home theater systems can enhance the viewing experience for certain types of movies, but if you're not careful they can change your focus from the movie itself to the technology delivering it. And that represents a major step backward. At least in my eyes, anyway.

By the way, I don't suppose you could tell me who Tara Lipinski is, could you?
-- N-M

Please do your braking comparisons of Suv's and Cars with Cars that most people drive.....not everyone drives the high end cars that you used in your comparison. My previous Jaguar XKE and Lamborghini 350 GT will outperform all the vehicles you used. Yes we drive a full-size 4x4 truck , a Suburban , and Explorer. These are business vehicles and family vehicles. Given how many people that are killed by LTV's and SUV's it's not the fault of those who make or buy them. I know how to drive as well as most of your test drivers and can actually stop my full-size chevy truck as quickly as most can stop an Lumina! Yes, I ahve done this!! I give peole the following distance that is safe for my family....if they pull out in front of me is it my fault for driving an LTV or SUV? The reason we own an SUV is because so many people don't drive safely. If we are in an accident, a Suburban will be the one people walk away from, is it our fault. Please do not propagandize and use the facts only, not just the ones you feel look most impressive.

As stated in my article, the reason I compared the braking distances of SUVs to those of full-size luxury cars was because the only cars on the road that weigh anywhere near as much as an SUV are the full-size luxury cars. SUV proponents have claimed in the past that their vehicles' poor braking performance was only because they weighed more. I presented evidence showing this assertion is patently false - cars just as heavy require significantly less stopping distance. The real problem is that most SUVs have inferior braking systems. The manufacturers shrug this off with their standard excuse that SUVs aren't really designed for highway use. The average SUV buyer isn't intelligent enough to know or care that he's being sold inferior (and cheaper) technology.

I'd love to see the evidence that you can stop your full-size pickup as quickly as most people can stop a Lumina. Because frankly, not only does it defy the laws of physics, but it sounds like the same sort of braggadocio as the drunk who claims he sobers up the minute he gets behind the wheel. No one can stop a full-size truck in the distance it takes to stop a small car, and it's just such baseless beliefs that are liable to get someone killed on the highway.

Your statement that you drive a Suburban because in an accident it will be the "one people walk away from" just proves my point about the mentality of SUV drivers. Suppose I decided the subway was a dangerous place, and decided to wear a suit of armor covered with spikes so I could "feel safe" inside those crowded subway trains? The armor would certainly increase my safety. The only problem is it would pose a danger to everyone else around me. I assume wearing such a suit of armor would be illegal, yet SUVs are exactly the same principle - you're endangering everyone else around you for your own selfish benefit. Of course, in order to make the analogy better I'd have to find a way for the armor to block other people's view of oncoming danger, and mount lights on it to shine directly in their eyes at night. On the other hand, if you're in an accident, and both vehicles are cars, the occupants of both vehicles have a chance of walking away. As I said elsewhere, people who are selfish and inconsiderate enough to drive SUVs are toying with other people's lives, and don't have the right to complain about anything.
-- N-M

I really have to congratulate you for your SUV page! It's really excellent. Well researched, written, designed, and all that good stuff. I could not agree more with all of your assertions.

Henri Dongieux
http://www.henridongieux.org/suv-truck-minivan.htm

At last! The voice of reason.
In all fairness to my readers, I should point out the author's site is written from an anti-SUV perspective. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
-- N-M

In response to a question I posed in my review of The Long Ships, Mark G. wrote in to tell me the "cannon movie" was The Pride and the Passion, made in 1957 and starring Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, and Sophia Loren. He continues

Of course, I don't really know if this is the same movie your friend recalled. Probably is.

I'm a little surprised that your "Long Ships" page doesn't refer to the 1958 "The Vikings" with Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Ernest Borgnine and Janet Leigh. On a cinematic level (if there really is such a thing) it might be the better movie. At age eight, it sure grabbed me as strongly as "The Long Ships" did you.

Mark G.

Thanks for the information. I'll have to hunt down the video sometime just to satisfy my curiosity.
-- N-M