The hockey stick and the Honda Odyssey

Remember the "Hockey Stick" controversy? The term referred to a graph of average global temperature over the past 1000 years, and shows that the temperature has been rising steeply since the start of the Industrial Revolution. The controversy was about the origin of the uptick. The consensus is now that global warming is related to the rising CO2 content of the atmosphere. But even if you disagree with that, what is clear is that the data falls on a curve shaped like a hockey stick.

Call CelloMom a nerd (I can't deny it), but every time I see a 2012 Honday Odyssey go by I can only think of the hockey stick temperature data. I can't get it out of my geeky head. The overall shape of the side windows follows that curve. Only on the Odyssey it's defiantly curved down.

Despite the re-design for this year, the Odyssey retains its epic proportions, and in the US still only comes with that silly 3.5L V6 engine that gets an average of 21 mpg. Ulysses would never have made it back to Ithaca at that rate.

At least the Japanese version of the Odyssey (with a straight window profile) gets up to 29 mpg. And comes with an optional swivel chair on the passenger side.