I've always enjoyed comparative analysis. Constantly juxtaposing and contrasting things, using similes and metaphors by any means necessary. My ongoing free association always involves bringing two things together, no matter how obscure.

Lately I've been rather obsessed with motorcycles, explicitly my own, and for the last six weeks this has been my primary point of reference. I also enjoy (though am far from obsessed with) video games, and I've recently completed playing one of the latest Star Wars games called The Force Unleashed.

There are many of us born in the seventies who saw Star Wars Episode IV in the movie theatre and still to this day feel the force. I was only three years old and yet totally remember it. I wonder if my lifelong interest in taoism was influenced by that early exposure to the force.

When I've been sick and in hospital I've poured through trashy Star Wars pulp fiction, and over the years I've played most of the video games released via Lucas Arts. Something about this particular fantasy world has always brought me comfort and a weird sense of belonging. Clearly I've been able to identify with the rogue Jedi wandering the universe.

When I used to be a militant cyclist I often called upon the force to deliver me safely and rapidly to my destination. Sometimes I pushed this a little too far, once riding all the way from my parent's house to the TAO office using no hands, another time attempting it with my eyes closed (that hurt).

Now that I'm a motorist I try and extend my senses beyond the vehicle, ahead of traffic, so I can anticipate trouble, be in the best lane, and take the quickest route possible. In an automobile this remains somewhat limited, as the space a car takes up limits ones ability to move and the options one has to evade.

However on my motorcycle, the role and use of the force is substantially greater. This is in part due to the fusion of mind and machine that is required when riding a motorbike.

Your hands and feet must all work independently, yet in symphony, and your body as a whole must work with the bike, leaning, balancing, and controlling. So much so that you literally think about where you want to go, or what you want to do, and it happens.

At the same time you're far more vulnerable and exposed, so there is a necessity to anticipate traffic and listen to your intuition when it comes to making the right decision. Running a yellow light can literally be a fatal decision.

When driving a motorcycle it is imperative to look where you want to go. A common mistake beginners make is to focus on where they don't want to go, like the ground, or the guard rail, and inevitably they end up there.

I try to both look where I want to go, but also attempt to look past that, whether further ahead, or figuratively around the corner, so I can then determine the best place to go, before being able to see it. Ideally this also involves a backup plan in case I'm wrong. In this regard it's not a "right" way, but rather an understanding of all the best possible ways, so that obstacles do not block my way.

Sometimes this involves statistics and history, such as the particular tendencies of an intersection, neighbourhood, or area. Add to this factors such as time of day, weather and road conditions, and the general flow of traffic overall. Also important is a constant assessment of other drivers on the road, are they erratic, talking on a phone, rocking out to their stereo, all signs that combine to inform what you want to do.

The key is to synthesize all of these factors into a simultaneous and intuitive decision that seamlessly takes you where you want to go in a safe and sound manner. I use the force as an analogy to describe it all, but that does not mean its either careless or cavalier. Rather its a feeling you have that when cultivated produces incredible and affirming results.

Unfortunately that never seems to be the case with Star Wars the franchise or The Force Unleashed the video game. Perhaps the Star Wars brand reached its pinnacle far too early, and has since steadily coasted from that initial success. Mind you, I keep my expectations low, and achieve at least a base level of entertainment.

There's nothing particularly wrong with the game The Force Unleashed, there's just nothing particularly great either. The game play is ok, the graphics are decent, and the game engine itself employs some decent AI that has the potential in the future to provide genuinely unpredictable outcomes. Unfortunately at this point it still falls short as randomness seems to always trump machine intelligence.

On the other hand, part of the reason I keep playing Star Wars games is they've become an extension of the larger story, providing a semi-interactive narrative platform to delve deeper into that galaxy far far away.

In this installment we learn that the Rebel Alliance was actually started by Darth Vader and the Emperor, as a means of identifying dissidents.

An interesting twist, but kind of lost in the medium. In theory video games have great potential to provide a new type of storytelling, unfortunately most fail in the most important area: the face. There's nothing worse than watching a play/movie/tv show where the facial action is distorted. I guess there's still a long way to go when it comes to computer generated animation having accurate facial expressions.

In contrast, three plus years ago when I was learning to drive, the video game I was playing was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. It was an excellent companion to the Young Drivers course I took, and allowed me to really get my head around driving in the city. No magical force, just violence, predators, and crooked cops.

So as disappointed as I was in Force Unleashed, it did allow me to meditate once more on the role the force (a/k/a tao) can play in the safe and successful operation of my motorcycle. Unlike GTA it actually helps diminish my road rage tendencies, reminding me that harmony with my surroundings is far better than the chaos of gang warfare. A good thought for a novice biker to have. ;)