The 2006 Australian census is tomorrow night, and once again participants have a chance to answer the religion question as: JEDI. Apparently 70,000 did last time (including me).

As the Australian Bureau of Statistics says: If your belief system is “Jedi” then answer as such on the census form.

Taking a look at the Jedi Code (at least, one of the versions), I think I can broadly commit to following it… though I’d probably do better if I was a vegetarian…

• Jedi are the guardians of peace in the galaxy.
• Jedi use their powers to defend and protect, never to attack others.
• Jedi respect all life, in any form.
• Jedi serve others rather than ruling over them, for the good of the galaxy.
• Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training.

The ABS also says the data gathered is to ensure community resources are appropriately focussed. Well, I’m not otherwise religious, so I know I’m not robbing any religious organisations of funding by declaring myself Jedi.

So, why not?

Arthur And George (Julian Barnes) — not quite historical novel, not quite biography, following the true story of Arthur Conan Doyle and George Edalji. Somewhere in between, perhaps. Really well written, I thought (no wonder if was on the 2005 Booker shortlist), getting inside the heads of the main characters using language they’d probably use themselves. And a very intruiguing story, which although it has a main plot that kind of fizzles out, remains interesting right to the end.

(Having just finished reading the book, I found it interesting to see that Arthur’s house, Undershaw, is the subject of some controversy at the moment.)

Lego Star Wars — The retail life of a video game goes roughly like this: It starts at $80-100, which is a ridiculous amount of money to pay for a game, if you ask me. But if it’s good, the early-adopters grab it. The price gradually falls to a half-decent level, then a very-decent level. And then, particularly if the reviews are pretty good, and I think my kids will like it, I’ll buy it. $20 (at Target), as it turns out, is a very-decent level for Lego Star Wars, which turns out to be a helluva lot of fun. A good variety of (Lego) characters, plus some spaceship flying, plus podracing, plus co-operative two-player mode, plus some terrific visuals adds up to a very enjoyable game. Perhaps not a big challenge for hardcore video gamers, but certainly a lot of fun for everybody else.

And by the way, I reckon those Lego characters are better actors than Hayden Christiansen.

Jyndabine — Comparisons with Ray Lawrence’s earlier Lantana are inevitable. While this one also looks closely at human emotions and death (and bloody noses), this film has less of a claustrophobic, mystery feel to it. People familiar with the Raymond Carver short story or Paul Kelly’s Everything’s Turning To White will know the basic story, but this telling sees the four men slip almost accidentally into the actions they are later condemned for, and the subseqent events are very believable, helped by seemingly flawless acting that left the entire cinema silent and thinking right through the film. Terrific stuff.

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang — A kinda violent-yet-funny Lock Stock/Snatch type comedy-mystery-drama. Very well done, with some nice touches on the narration. Plenty of laughs, very enjoyable.

Broken Flowers — Another of Bill Murray’s refined, old bloke, laid-back movie roles. Very good.

Corpse Bride — Reminded me of one of those 80s/90s afternoon kids’ programmes, like Duckula or the Trapdoor or something. Enjoyable.

Legally Blonde — Caught this movie on TV on Saturday night, as there was nothing else on. Who’d have thought a comedy could have so few laughs? Come to think of it, who’d have thought a whole movie could be as brainless as the lead character was supposed to be?

Walk The Line — The story of Johnny Cash, and in particular his drug addiction and relationship with June Carter, based on his autobiography, which doesn’t paint him in entirely a good light. Interesting to see where some of his better-known songs, such as Folsom Prison Blues, and Walk The Line, come from. Really good. Not surprised it won an Oscar.

A City Lost And Found - Whelan The Wrecker’s Melbourne — I certainly remember seeing Whelan The Wrecker signs around Melbourne when I was growing up, letting the passing populace know that another building was being flattened. They don’t exist anymore as a family firm, though the brand name was bought. The book covers their century-long history, and with it the history of many of Melbourne’s best-known buildings of the past and present, with plenty of anecdotes along the way. A fascinating book for anybody interested in Melbourne’s history.

• State Library: Whelan the Wrecker, with Robyn Annear talking about how she wrote the book.
• Museum of Victoria: Whelan the Wrecker

Crash — Superb drama. More than a little unsettling at times, but not a total depressionfest. Some Pulp Fictionesque dialogue and interconnecting story threads that reminded me a bit of Lantana. Nobody really gets off scott-free in this movie, and it really makes the point that none of us is totally good, or totally bad. Great stuff.

I got Isaac a Doctor Who DVD for his birthday which has two documentaries on it totalling almost two hours.

Is that too much? I haven’t watched the docos yet, but it is a truly classic story (Genesis of the Daleks), with plenty to talk about in terms of how the story was written and produced, and the history of the Daleks themselves.

Memorably, the Twelve Monkeys DVD includes a movie-length documentary about the making of the film. Far from being the usual stuff about how the did the special effects, and the celebrity interviews with Bruce and Brad, it goes through the early script development, financing, and problems with final editing and test audiences.

Of course it’s all a bit over-the-top if you’re not at all interested in movie-making. Personally, I am, at least to a certain extent. So provided the extra material is well done, and not superficial vapid publicity fluff, I’ll usually take a look.

Saw a guy on the train with an old-style portable CD player. ‘Cos, you know, digital music from real CDs have a warmth that MP3/AAC on iPods just can’t match…

Watched WarGames again the other night. As Marita commented, no wonder geeks like it — geeks get to save the world. (Though they almost destroyed it in the first place.) Call me slow, but I hadn’t noticed before that one of the missile operators at the start is played by none other than the late John Spencer, better known as Leo McGarry in the West Wing.

Quick review: Foreigner by C J Cherryh — I have to admit, I found this book hard-going initially. I think it’s the style of it versus the style of my reading. I don’t tend to read for long periods of time. It’s generally 15 minutes on the train, rather than an hour or two tucked up in bed, and this book didn’t suit that. But particularly towards the end, it was rivetting stuff. Apart from what would happen to the human character, his whole thinking of himself and the other humans compared to the… well, alien nature of the aliens was very interesting.

Goodnight and Good Luck — A dramatised version of the campaign against Joe McCarthy by 50’s CBS programme See It Now, but with so many modern parallels in today’s climate of terrorism, fundamentalism, secrecy and censorship. Beautifully shot, and compelling. My eyes didn’t waver from the screen for the full 90 minutes.

On a couple of related notes:

George Clooney says he didn’t actually write the blog entry in the Huffington Post “I am a Liberal. There, I said it!”, but that he does stand by the statements in it, which were compiled from two separate interviews. He takes a potshot at the (US) Democrats: Just look at the way so many Democrats caved in the run up to the war. In 2003, a lot of us were saying, where is the link between Saddam and bin Laden? What does Iraq have to do with 9/11? We knew it was bullshit. Which is why it drives me crazy to hear all these Democrats saying, “We were misled.” It makes me want to shout, “Fuck you, you weren’t misled. You were afraid of being called unpatriotic.”

Ever wondered what the media won’t talk about? Sure, some of it’s media barons directing from on-high, but there’s also D-Notices. The D-Notice system lists the topics they shouldn’t report on. Theoretically it’s a voluntary system.