Back in the forum days I figured out a solid half dozen ways to doxx and find people. The best way was to host my own images on a webserver then put a tracking pixel in a private message.
Bark does unwise stuff and gets away with it all the time, that's his thing!
I expect that some day I'll get a visit from someone who wants to confront or steal from me based on the Internet. The best outcome for that person will be if they are lucky enough to arrive when I'm home alone, because I don't use guns and I don't believe in violence. Worst scenario would be if it's just my son hanging out by himself; the trick will be to make it up the 580 feet of the driveway while retaining both eyeballs.
As fate would have it, I just managed to find an ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend on the Internet in a grand total of three minutes, without a name, based on nothing more than his age and where he worked in 2017. Maybe I should write it up but be warned: Stage Zero of the process is "be an autistic weirdo with eidetic memory".
It is very, very hard to maintain total privacy in the internet age. I'm not sure I've ever failed to find someone I thought it was worth more than ten minutes to look for.
About 15 years ago I helped a co-worker interview and get hired at Google. I'd have tried myself but at the time they were picky about criminal or violent background. Anyway, he disappeared from the Internet around the time he went from a number job to a name job, but the US Government eventually snitched him out
I had to virtually pull over and come comment when I got to part three. Hilarious. I'm re-wiring my sim setup after work tonight. Now I've got a goal once everything is plugged in and software sorted.
Maybe Automobilista2 is much faster than in real life at the Glen. Race conditions vs an identical field, all-season tires, VW Polo hatch with 148hp and I was 2:31 easily. The 1979 brazilian stock car was right there too. Anything remotely fast was so far ahead of Jonny it's not worth mentioning. Might try the Brazilian Copa semi truck tonight.
Recently I was surprised to hear Farrah admit on his TST podcast that there are a number of journalists in general, and one in particular, whose paychecks depend on pushing EVs as hard as they can. I know this and you know this but I was shocked to hear someone in the mainstream automotive press (assuming that’s what TST is, and I think it is) say this out loud. I forget exactly how they specified Lieberman, but they made it clear they were talking about him.
I mean do you blame him? Like what else has he got to offer? He’s not a journalist, not really. He’s more of a freelance marketeer who specializes in human-controlled, 4 wheeled conveyances.
MotorTrend is pushing hard to be the only car rag to survive the Glorious EV Transition. It makes sense because electric vehicles are really the only cars driven by motors to begin with.
In the context of automobiles, motors and engines are synonymous. To my knowledge, when these companies were being created and named, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Bayerische Motoren Werke were not in the EV business. Honda used to run ads showing their diverse product lineup, stressing that they were the Honda *Motor* Co.
My curiosity piqued, I turned to etymology. It looks like motor is the earlier term (by about a century, 17th vs 18th), than engine, for a device used to provide mechanical power. I also checked with ChatGPT and its AI seems to insist that motors are powered by electricity and engines are powered by chemistry and while that may be the standard today, it's clear to me there was little distinction between the two terms in the early automotive era.
In the early days, a lot of car companies didn't make their own engines, the most prominent was probably Continental Motor Company, another supplier was Hercules Engines. In small engines it's Kohler Engines, and Wisconsin Motors (Briggs & Stratton has always been just Briggs & Stratton).
Perhaps "motorist" and "motorsports" prevailed because there was already a term "engineer" that meant either a professional engineer or a guy who was at the controls of a train. Interestingly, in the UK they called the guys operating trains "engine drivers", not engineers, or at least according to The Who they did https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAEoVvswOcI).
"engine (n.)
c. 1300, "mechanical device," especially one used in war; "manner of construction," also "skill, craft, innate ability; deceitfulness, trickery," from Old French engin "skill, wit, cleverness," also "trick, deceit, stratagem; war machine" (12c.), from Latin ingenium "innate qualities, ability; inborn character," in Late Latin "a war engine, battering ram" (Tertullian, Isidore of Seville). This is etymologically "that which is inborn," from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + gignere "to beget, produce" (from PIE root *gene- "give birth, beget").
The sense of "device that converts energy to mechanical power" emerged in 18c. In 19c. the word was used especially of steam engines. Middle English also had ingeny (n.) "gadget, apparatus, device," directly from Latin ingenium."
"motor (n.)
"one who or that which imparts motion," mid-15c., "controller, prime mover (in reference to God);" from Late Latin motor, literally "mover," agent noun from past-participle stem of Latin movere "to move" (from PIE root *meue- "to push away"). Sense of "agent or force that produces mechanical motion" is first recorded 1660s; that of "machine that supplies motive power" is from 1856. Motor-home is by 1966. Motor-scooter is from 1919. First record of slang motor-mouth "fast-talking person" is from 1970.
motor (v.)
travel or drive in a motor vehicle," "1896, from motor (n.). Related: Motored; motoring.
motor-
element used extensively in 20c. word formation to indicate motorcar.
motorize (v.)
"to furnish with a motor or motors," 1913, from motor (n.) + -ize. Related: Motorized; motorizing; motorization.
motor-bike (n.)
also motorbike, "motorcycle," 1903, from motor (n.) + bike (n.).
motor-boat (n.)
also motorboat, "motor-driven boat," 1875, from motor (n.) + boat (n.).
motorist (n.)
"motor-car driver," 1896, from motor- + -ist. Earlier as a name for electric railway drivers (1889). Other early alternatives included motorneer.
"Motorer" we have given our reasons for rejecting, and there only remains "motorist" or a compound like "motor-man" or "motor-driver." Mr. C.P.G. Scott, the etymologist of the Century Dictionary, strongly favors "motor-man" or "motor-driver," though he would not object to "motorist" and prefers it above any other single word.
He should, but he doesn't, because he's not an unpleasant or confrontational person. He wants to be liked, which is not a goal that ever crossed my mind.
No idea, sorry. I have a long commute and a dog I walk frequently so I listen to all of them amongst other things. Sometime in the last 6-8 weeks, but I don’t remember. And it was in passing, not the point of the discussion.
Not sure where you got that idea from. He doesn't personally own any EV, and him and Johnny Boy had quite an argument last year on the podcast about battery materials and how harmful it is to mine them. Matt was on they "its actually pretty bad" side and Johnny was on the "NOT ITS ACTUALLY FINE AND DOES NO DAMAGE WHATSOEVER AND ITS A MILLION TIMES CLEANER THAN BETTER THAN OIL JUST TRUST ME BRO" side.
He has done at least two shows with his father, Roger.
I have a friend - for those keeping up with the Sherman McCoy cinematic universe, it’s the fellow with the 60” (plus) waist - whose father moves in the same circles as Roger Farah in South Carolina: High end private hunting plantations, Orvis (Roger is on the board; Perkins family lives next door to my buddy’s parents), etc. My sense is that Roger is very smart, reasonably humble / self-effacing, and not too bothered about the lackluster achievements of his child(ren). My buddy’s dad is … exactly the same.
I didn’t interpret Roger’s advice as Dave Ramsey-esque, at all. Dave Ramsey’s business is brusquely dispensing one size fits all advice to people who have lived above their means who are unwilling or unable to enhance their revenue, so they have to cut expenses. That’s it. He debases his “guests” just like Jerry Springer, et alia.
Might be good business from the perspective of the rental operation. If certainly makes their product look easy, and you can rest assured you won't be their slowest customer.
The OEMs want views and attention on their vehicles, which explains why instagrammers no one that I know has ever heard of get press junkets, and why they still hookup Lieberman with goodies. If MotorTrend were to die, or scrap Lieberman, I wonder if he could make it on his own (would he have a following to go with him to YouTube or something else)? Ok, just kidding, I don’t wonder if that could happen.
As Jean Lindamood could tell you, people who made their bones being loyal to PR and magazine bosses gets you about zero audience when the carousel stops.
You might as well ask "Could Arthur St. Antoine have made it on his own?"
I was thinking something a little more elaborate and costly. You put up the money to train the driver and run the car for the weekend against EcoJon. Would be good fun but costly so a few thousand more subscribers would allow you the time and means to make us here laugh.
That's a great idea. For context, my stepdaughter learned how to drive a stick shift in May, started driving on track in June, and is now about 1.5 seconds off perfect pace in her Spec Racer Ford. I can get those results from most people if they're serious.
So she's following her mother's trajectory? I seem to recall Danger Girl couldn't drive a stick but once she decided to race she very quickly proved her mettle...
If I lived anywhere near there I feel like the (almost two) tons of fun ecoboost Mustang convertible would be a good candidate. Despite being a bit of a jackass I follow directions pretty well.
Yes, but it would be especially funny to take a down on power, confused transmission, heat soaked, underbraked open touring car and walk his time at Watkins. Based on how far back in time and down on power you had to go to match it I think it might be possible sans instruction.
Would my 1983 Pontiac Parisienne work as a stand in? The prior owner had a racer's heart when she had the whitewalls mounted facing in on the Goodyear Viva Walmart special tires.
There's no such thing as "automotive journalism". The entire industry is a bunch of lifestyle bloggers with unwarranted self-importance and insulin resistance or video-based chucklefucks dreaming of becoming a politically-correct Jeremy Clarkson.
I gag each time any of them uses the word "journalist". What journalism did you do exactly? Develop insider sources at the C suite level? Go undercover in a factory to find environmental abuses?
"I traveled 36 hours to Gran Canaria to see if the refreshed GTS 4.000 E-Hybrid Heritage Dakar Bongo Bongo will make my wife's boyfriend 3 percent more jealous!"
If it isn't a reporter standing in front of a fire, it isn't "news". It's likely already gone through some PD's public affairs department or a company's PR reps and is something akin to a rewritten press release.
I am a completely novice driver with zero racing or track experience of any kind.
Assuming a large budget, a roughly equivalent car, and a positive attitude, how long would it take you as someone who has done a fair amount of coaching to get me lapping faster than that?
I’m just here to shill for the track day club again. Do it. If you’re really worried about shitcanning your car just buy track insurance, but if you’re a novice like me you’ll be in limited passing sessions with everyone’s singular goal being getting good and not fucking their car up. There’s a lot of power in humility here.
Man I'd love an opportunity to go up against some of these industry writers in a battle of lap times. I may just be a lowley drifter, but that does translate into knowing what cars do when you move the weight around. That's really all driving and car control is, just managing the weight and moving it where it's needed via the steering wheel and pedals.
Maybe I'm overconfident, but I think beating Johnny is too low of a bar. Go for Sam Smith, he's actually pretty good (in my perception).
Oh, and last I checked trackday level is $100 more than standard but I could be wrong.
I wish I knew. He's a very clumsy and inept man, I think he's nearly blind, and he's unwilling to learn anything. The rumor is that he's totaled a half dozen press cars.
Maybe if he put as much effort into racing as he does with his caveman pick up awkward sandbags with horrible form workouts, he would improve approximately 1 second per stint.
I had to unfollow him because getting annoyed at some no talent ass clown who has no idea who I am (and I promise you, I’m somebody alright!) was not worth the gray hair. My kids have that covered for me and I actually like them.
In the autowriting business, "the classics" would be Tom Wolfe (for tone and perception), Gordon Baxter (for reader rapport, feel free to substitute Egan) and Don Sherman.
My personal "big 3" are Egan, Sam Smith, and obviously (because I pay him to be here) Jack. Egan for story craft, Smith for creativity and entertainment, and Jack for keepin' it real.
On the other hand, he'll go on and on about watches (so he's got that going for him in your book) on "Spike's Car Radio" , where he's a regular. Both Spike and Farrah are watch guys too (like the Baruth bros, hmmmm......)
Having been to Bark's little rural enclave many times, I don't like the chances faced by any would-be burglar or robber. Even if you could dig through his famously messy and absurdly large home to find the watches, the neighbors would start off by shooting to wound, just for their own amusement.
No shame. Farah’s take on mechanical watches is similar to mine- I love having this machine that tells quite good time and can survive 3900m under water (unlike me).
It sucks to want to be good at something, to believe you have some spark of talent or ability that just needs to be fanned to flame, only to find out you are not good and probably never will be.
I’m terrified that this will be the case when I FINALLY start doing OTDs at Waterford next year. I think I’ll be pretty good based on my rental karting experience (please feel free to lol) and my very limited track driving experience working for an OEM. But if it IS the case I don’t plan to pretend I’m good…
I have run into this many times, with Army officers I worked for, as well as (the son of) small business owners I worked for. Extreme self confidence in the face of zero evidence of competency is an amazing feat.
Waterford Hills is awesome! You'll have an instructor for at least your first session. Listen and follow their directions carefully, the line isn't what you may think it should be. From there just work up pace as your confidence and brakes allow. OTDs aren't for measuring how good you are anyway.
Swear to God, I was not intent on achieving a triple entendre. Especially when it comes to defending the sort of participation trophy auto journalist here under discussion!
One of the most interesting characters in Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence was the painter who had a deep appreciation of great art but could only paint cliches. Spoiler: kept trying, did not end well.
I just ran an enduro at Ridge Motorsports Park... team of four drivers in a Ford Focus race car. We also used Race Hero to track lap times... best lap times: first guy (experienced SCCA racer) 1:59.85, me (NASA sprint racer): 1:59.78, third guy (no comp license) 1:59.9... last guy (team owner and experienced enduro racer) could have put down a faster lap, but we were leading P2 in our class by 2 laps, so last guy saved the car running 2:00's, and brought home the win... I believe if a driver was more than 5 seconds off the average team pace, they would probably not be asked back...
Yeah. There's like a 3-second buffer you can throw at it to preserve tires, save a bit of fuel, maybe keep heat out of the engine... beyond that you need to have a real plan if you're going to cut additional pace out of the stint.
This is going to sound shitty but it's not really meant to be... the team uses a photographer at the track, and the owner lets her drive during practice, or if we're not competitive, in exchange for her (excellent) photography work. She's significantly off the team pace, but she's just doing it for fun. But when I say "significantly" I mean like 10 secs or so... your man in a high-power race car being 10+ sec off the team pace is pretty pathetic. Even if he couldn't carry speed through WG's corners, the horsepower should at least eat the straights the same...
I mean, I'm genuinely curious if they detuned the car during his stint? For his safety?
i figured italians in italy were the type to have a cigarette and an espresso for breakfast whereas the italian americans looked more like tony soprano
I wonder if there's an equivalent to _Albion's Seed_ but for Italians? I sense that the US got a particular subset of Italians, probably heavily Sicilian and virtually not at all Tyrolean.
I was at COTA for the US Grand Prix back in 2015. It was pouring buckets, and behind its pit garage Ferrari had erected an appropriately elaborate (and, being F1, probably expensive) awning over what was essentially, a bar just tall enough for the mechanics to lean against and just wide enough for each of them to position an espresso cup and an ashtray.
it was one of my favorite things I saw that weekend - a line of F1 mechanics sipping espresso and smoking under an awning specifically designed for exactly, and only, for that purpose.
My favorite F1 driver was Alessandro Nannini. He would drink espresso and smoke cigarettes before qualifying and the GP. Pity he had the helicopter accident just as his career was taking off.
I'll never not be fat again. The last time I was unfat I was 32 years old, running 4 miles every morning and having very little lunch. That allowed me to hover at 195 pounds.
If current trends continue i should be 226-228 pounds by Christmas, but i doubt I'll stay there very long. It sucks to work long hours and eat one meal a day.
I have one Zegna hanging in my closet, where it will stay, ignored. It nominally fits, but the armholes (I have no idea what tailors call that part, but I mean the shoulder end of the arm) are cut so close that they do not allow any airflow to the armpits. Hideously uncomfortable for any extended period of time. Nice material, though, I'll give it that.
Italian sizing is substantially different than ours. Some of the heavy equipment I buy from an Italian company and a factory rep offered to give me some swag. I am an American XL, the jacket and sweatshirt he gave me are both marked XXXL and fit perfect.
My wife bought me an XL wool shirt for my birthday, a really nice one. Trying it on was shockingly dispiriting for the one minute until I realized it had come from Italy.
Back in the forum days I figured out a solid half dozen ways to doxx and find people. The best way was to host my own images on a webserver then put a tracking pixel in a private message.
Bark does unwise stuff and gets away with it all the time, that's his thing!
I expect that some day I'll get a visit from someone who wants to confront or steal from me based on the Internet. The best outcome for that person will be if they are lucky enough to arrive when I'm home alone, because I don't use guns and I don't believe in violence. Worst scenario would be if it's just my son hanging out by himself; the trick will be to make it up the 580 feet of the driveway while retaining both eyeballs.
This deserves a dedicated post.
As fate would have it, I just managed to find an ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend on the Internet in a grand total of three minutes, without a name, based on nothing more than his age and where he worked in 2017. Maybe I should write it up but be warned: Stage Zero of the process is "be an autistic weirdo with eidetic memory".
Isn't that a requirement at ACF?
It is very, very hard to maintain total privacy in the internet age. I'm not sure I've ever failed to find someone I thought it was worth more than ten minutes to look for.
About 15 years ago I helped a co-worker interview and get hired at Google. I'd have tried myself but at the time they were picky about criminal or violent background. Anyway, he disappeared from the Internet around the time he went from a number job to a name job, but the US Government eventually snitched him out
https://patents.justia.com/inventor/aaron-spangler
and he returned to mild presence a few years ago.
To whom is Lieberman an heir?
I had to virtually pull over and come comment when I got to part three. Hilarious. I'm re-wiring my sim setup after work tonight. Now I've got a goal once everything is plugged in and software sorted.
Off to finish! Again, hilarious.
Maybe Automobilista2 is much faster than in real life at the Glen. Race conditions vs an identical field, all-season tires, VW Polo hatch with 148hp and I was 2:31 easily. The 1979 brazilian stock car was right there too. Anything remotely fast was so far ahead of Jonny it's not worth mentioning. Might try the Brazilian Copa semi truck tonight.
I should try this on Assetto with a stock e36 drift car
Recently I was surprised to hear Farrah admit on his TST podcast that there are a number of journalists in general, and one in particular, whose paychecks depend on pushing EVs as hard as they can. I know this and you know this but I was shocked to hear someone in the mainstream automotive press (assuming that’s what TST is, and I think it is) say this out loud. I forget exactly how they specified Lieberman, but they made it clear they were talking about him.
Lieberman will shill for anything. He's the most bought man in the industry.
I mean do you blame him? Like what else has he got to offer? He’s not a journalist, not really. He’s more of a freelance marketeer who specializes in human-controlled, 4 wheeled conveyances.
MotorTrend is pushing hard to be the only car rag to survive the Glorious EV Transition. It makes sense because electric vehicles are really the only cars driven by motors to begin with.
The inEVitable podcast!
which is a pretty damn optimistic name considering evs are looking more evitable each passing year
https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/evs-are-just-going-to-win
_evitons les étrons!_
(evitons: "let's avoid"
étrons: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%A9tron but also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_e-tron)
Ignoring the ongoing EV implosion will be harder than pretending you are fast at the Glen methinks.
If he’s spinning EVs now when all their faults are known by the general public, he will continue to spin during the implosion.
Would you say they're betting on the end of the Engine Fad?
GOD BLESS YOU
In the context of automobiles, motors and engines are synonymous. To my knowledge, when these companies were being created and named, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Bayerische Motoren Werke were not in the EV business. Honda used to run ads showing their diverse product lineup, stressing that they were the Honda *Motor* Co.
What, also, of motorcar and motorsports?
i thought it was shorthand for motorized automobile or something
I can't believe Boom hasn't showed up to say that "motor" was always wrong and/or colloquial. These are engines.
My curiosity piqued, I turned to etymology. It looks like motor is the earlier term (by about a century, 17th vs 18th), than engine, for a device used to provide mechanical power. I also checked with ChatGPT and its AI seems to insist that motors are powered by electricity and engines are powered by chemistry and while that may be the standard today, it's clear to me there was little distinction between the two terms in the early automotive era.
In the early days, a lot of car companies didn't make their own engines, the most prominent was probably Continental Motor Company, another supplier was Hercules Engines. In small engines it's Kohler Engines, and Wisconsin Motors (Briggs & Stratton has always been just Briggs & Stratton).
Perhaps "motorist" and "motorsports" prevailed because there was already a term "engineer" that meant either a professional engineer or a guy who was at the controls of a train. Interestingly, in the UK they called the guys operating trains "engine drivers", not engineers, or at least according to The Who they did https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAEoVvswOcI).
"engine (n.)
c. 1300, "mechanical device," especially one used in war; "manner of construction," also "skill, craft, innate ability; deceitfulness, trickery," from Old French engin "skill, wit, cleverness," also "trick, deceit, stratagem; war machine" (12c.), from Latin ingenium "innate qualities, ability; inborn character," in Late Latin "a war engine, battering ram" (Tertullian, Isidore of Seville). This is etymologically "that which is inborn," from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + gignere "to beget, produce" (from PIE root *gene- "give birth, beget").
The sense of "device that converts energy to mechanical power" emerged in 18c. In 19c. the word was used especially of steam engines. Middle English also had ingeny (n.) "gadget, apparatus, device," directly from Latin ingenium."
"motor (n.)
"one who or that which imparts motion," mid-15c., "controller, prime mover (in reference to God);" from Late Latin motor, literally "mover," agent noun from past-participle stem of Latin movere "to move" (from PIE root *meue- "to push away"). Sense of "agent or force that produces mechanical motion" is first recorded 1660s; that of "machine that supplies motive power" is from 1856. Motor-home is by 1966. Motor-scooter is from 1919. First record of slang motor-mouth "fast-talking person" is from 1970.
motor (v.)
travel or drive in a motor vehicle," "1896, from motor (n.). Related: Motored; motoring.
motor-
element used extensively in 20c. word formation to indicate motorcar.
motorize (v.)
"to furnish with a motor or motors," 1913, from motor (n.) + -ize. Related: Motorized; motorizing; motorization.
motor-bike (n.)
also motorbike, "motorcycle," 1903, from motor (n.) + bike (n.).
motor-boat (n.)
also motorboat, "motor-driven boat," 1875, from motor (n.) + boat (n.).
motorist (n.)
"motor-car driver," 1896, from motor- + -ist. Earlier as a name for electric railway drivers (1889). Other early alternatives included motorneer.
"Motorer" we have given our reasons for rejecting, and there only remains "motorist" or a compound like "motor-man" or "motor-driver." Mr. C.P.G. Scott, the etymologist of the Century Dictionary, strongly favors "motor-man" or "motor-driver," though he would not object to "motorist" and prefers it above any other single word.
["Electric Power," October 1889]""
Do you recall which episode? Think I missed that discussion.
I suspect that Farah, having other sources of income besides automotive journalism, feels able to speak more freely than others.
He should, but he doesn't, because he's not an unpleasant or confrontational person. He wants to be liked, which is not a goal that ever crossed my mind.
Keep on keepin’ on, brother.
No idea, sorry. I have a long commute and a dog I walk frequently so I listen to all of them amongst other things. Sometime in the last 6-8 weeks, but I don’t remember. And it was in passing, not the point of the discussion.
I thought Farah was all in on everything electric, did his wife leave him? Next he'll be door knocking for Trump wearing a SpaceX t-shirt.
Not sure where you got that idea from. He doesn't personally own any EV, and him and Johnny Boy had quite an argument last year on the podcast about battery materials and how harmful it is to mine them. Matt was on they "its actually pretty bad" side and Johnny was on the "NOT ITS ACTUALLY FINE AND DOES NO DAMAGE WHATSOEVER AND ITS A MILLION TIMES CLEANER THAN BETTER THAN OIL JUST TRUST ME BRO" side.
Granted I haven’t listened for a few years.
Not surprised.
"He doesn't personally own any EV"
He just returned a Mach E lease and has had a Macan EV on order.
Indeed! He's on the fence about canceling the Macan, though, and it's a lease anyway. It goes away after 2 or 3 years.
I'm looking forward to the final analysis of his Bently experiment vs the cost of a Mach E lease
He also had a second-generation Chevrolet Volt that I recall him raving about.
Of course, an EV is an excellent choice for commuting in Los Angeles.
Ahh that argument where I got to teach Johnny how to do math on Instagram, he took it shockingly well IIRC.
I unfollowed Johnny on IG long before that, sorry I missed this!
His sidekick Klapman just got married to a woman who used to work for SpaceX!
Has Zack ever had an original thought?
Orange man bad! Oh, you wrote original.
Lately he's been voicing some questions I also have when Matt says something out of pocket. So, yes.
When I last was paying any attention to them Matt was fairly consistently bitching about Trump and Drax.
I did listen to him interview his Dad who I thought was great, especially when his investment advice channeled Dave Ramsey.
He has done at least two shows with his father, Roger.
I have a friend - for those keeping up with the Sherman McCoy cinematic universe, it’s the fellow with the 60” (plus) waist - whose father moves in the same circles as Roger Farah in South Carolina: High end private hunting plantations, Orvis (Roger is on the board; Perkins family lives next door to my buddy’s parents), etc. My sense is that Roger is very smart, reasonably humble / self-effacing, and not too bothered about the lackluster achievements of his child(ren). My buddy’s dad is … exactly the same.
I didn’t interpret Roger’s advice as Dave Ramsey-esque, at all. Dave Ramsey’s business is brusquely dispensing one size fits all advice to people who have lived above their means who are unwilling or unable to enhance their revenue, so they have to cut expenses. That’s it. He debases his “guests” just like Jerry Springer, et alia.
OOOHH, GOT HIM!
We all drove Black Betty faster than that BEFORE THE RESURFACE.
I'd forgotten about that!
Shevel drove Big Red -- for those of you who don't know, that's an E34 525i -- around in 2:16 before the resurface, too!
Those times are abysmal - even for HPDE larping sessions - let alone a race car with real competitors
Cui bono?
Does it sell magazines? Probably not. Ads? Doubtful. Cars? No way. Maybe he has pictures from a Diddy gathering.
Might be good business from the perspective of the rental operation. If certainly makes their product look easy, and you can rest assured you won't be their slowest customer.
The OEMs want views and attention on their vehicles, which explains why instagrammers no one that I know has ever heard of get press junkets, and why they still hookup Lieberman with goodies. If MotorTrend were to die, or scrap Lieberman, I wonder if he could make it on his own (would he have a following to go with him to YouTube or something else)? Ok, just kidding, I don’t wonder if that could happen.
As Jean Lindamood could tell you, people who made their bones being loyal to PR and magazine bosses gets you about zero audience when the carousel stops.
You might as well ask "Could Arthur St. Antoine have made it on his own?"
So Lindamood has finally gotten the audience she deserves?
Jack we need to get you a few thousand more subscribers then you can train a novice to go faster in a lesser car. It would be hilarious.
I'm already doing it, ten times a year! :)
I was thinking something a little more elaborate and costly. You put up the money to train the driver and run the car for the weekend against EcoJon. Would be good fun but costly so a few thousand more subscribers would allow you the time and means to make us here laugh.
That's a great idea. For context, my stepdaughter learned how to drive a stick shift in May, started driving on track in June, and is now about 1.5 seconds off perfect pace in her Spec Racer Ford. I can get those results from most people if they're serious.
Jack, I know. That is why I thought it is great idea.
So she's following her mother's trajectory? I seem to recall Danger Girl couldn't drive a stick but once she decided to race she very quickly proved her mettle...
very encouraging to hear
wagmi
If I lived anywhere near there I feel like the (almost two) tons of fun ecoboost Mustang convertible would be a good candidate. Despite being a bit of a jackass I follow directions pretty well.
Well, I *do* visit readers at their local track, so jump if you're froggy!
Yes, but it would be especially funny to take a down on power, confused transmission, heat soaked, underbraked open touring car and walk his time at Watkins. Based on how far back in time and down on power you had to go to match it I think it might be possible sans instruction.
Would my 1983 Pontiac Parisienne work as a stand in? The prior owner had a racer's heart when she had the whitewalls mounted facing in on the Goodyear Viva Walmart special tires.
There's no such thing as "automotive journalism". The entire industry is a bunch of lifestyle bloggers with unwarranted self-importance and insulin resistance or video-based chucklefucks dreaming of becoming a politically-correct Jeremy Clarkson.
I gag each time any of them uses the word "journalist". What journalism did you do exactly? Develop insider sources at the C suite level? Go undercover in a factory to find environmental abuses?
"I traveled 36 hours to Gran Canaria to see if the refreshed GTS 4.000 E-Hybrid Heritage Dakar Bongo Bongo will make my wife's boyfriend 3 percent more jealous!"
We used to have journalists, now I'm not sure.
Even what little local news I see seems to be PR for the state/local governments no matter how illegal or unpopular their actions.
There are reasons why I call myself a writer and not a journalist.
A journalist is someone who writes in their journal. Is it any surprise that most of those who call themselves journalists act like 13 year old girls?
A reporter is someone completely different as is a writer.
nypost might be the closest thing to journalism these days.
It's an open secret that most local news stations are owned by a couple groups of companies that then feed them their to be discussed stories.
If it isn't a reporter standing in front of a fire, it isn't "news". It's likely already gone through some PD's public affairs department or a company's PR reps and is something akin to a rewritten press release.
Well said!
Here’s a hypothetical:
I am a completely novice driver with zero racing or track experience of any kind.
Assuming a large budget, a roughly equivalent car, and a positive attitude, how long would it take you as someone who has done a fair amount of coaching to get me lapping faster than that?
An eight-session weekend should do it. Either of the Trackday Clubbers I coached at MidO in September would have done better.
And for the kind folks at the back (me) how much is that Trackday Club subscription running these days?
Same as always: a POSITIVE BARGAIN at $299 a year. You get merch, too!
Looks like I’m gonna put that on the ol’ Christmas list!
I’m just here to shill for the track day club again. Do it. If you’re really worried about shitcanning your car just buy track insurance, but if you’re a novice like me you’ll be in limited passing sessions with everyone’s singular goal being getting good and not fucking their car up. There’s a lot of power in humility here.
Man I'd love an opportunity to go up against some of these industry writers in a battle of lap times. I may just be a lowley drifter, but that does translate into knowing what cars do when you move the weight around. That's really all driving and car control is, just managing the weight and moving it where it's needed via the steering wheel and pedals.
Maybe I'm overconfident, but I think beating Johnny is too low of a bar. Go for Sam Smith, he's actually pretty good (in my perception).
Oh, and last I checked trackday level is $100 more than standard but I could be wrong.
Oh you'd be way, WAY ahead of Jonny. Not even fair. Not close.
I should take Jack up on this if only because of my proximity to Mid-O.
I’d just be in deep trouble if I accidentally wadded-up my ride in the process!
I have not really ever seriously thought of going racing before because of costs and that very same fear of my only becoming broken.
That's why you rent a car, check all the insurance boxes, and claim ignorance after the fact.
you're not gonna wad up your ride in a novice run group with a skilled instructor in the right seat. or jack. whoever you choose to pay for.
So is he just lazy or is he genuinely lacking any kind of talent or aptitude behind the wheel? Or is it a lack of cojones?
I wish I knew. He's a very clumsy and inept man, I think he's nearly blind, and he's unwilling to learn anything. The rumor is that he's totaled a half dozen press cars.
Wait... he's actually suspected of _totaling_ press cars?
you're right - those flaks are humiliating him.
Yes!
Maybe if he put as much effort into racing as he does with his caveman pick up awkward sandbags with horrible form workouts, he would improve approximately 1 second per stint.
I had to unfollow him because getting annoyed at some no talent ass clown who has no idea who I am (and I promise you, I’m somebody alright!) was not worth the gray hair. My kids have that covered for me and I actually like them.
Other than racing advice, I would say that workout advice would be his most incompetent work product. He should spend that time reading the classics.
i am curious to know what the classics are because id like to be a better writer
or at least a better person in general
In the autowriting business, "the classics" would be Tom Wolfe (for tone and perception), Gordon Baxter (for reader rapport, feel free to substitute Egan) and Don Sherman.
noted
thank you
Spare a little time for John Phillips, if only to compare with Hunter S. Thompson. "Naming the leeches" and whatnot.
LJK Setright for thoroughness and turn of phrase
Andrew Frankel (see The Intercooler - yes, you have to pay) is a brilliant, thoughtful writer
Denise McCluggage?
Where would you put Setright?
My personal "big 3" are Egan, Sam Smith, and obviously (because I pay him to be here) Jack. Egan for story craft, Smith for creativity and entertainment, and Jack for keepin' it real.
three of my favourites as well
This is why I’m a subscriber!
Oh! burn!!
On the other hand, he'll go on and on about watches (so he's got that going for him in your book) on "Spike's Car Radio" , where he's a regular. Both Spike and Farrah are watch guys too (like the Baruth bros, hmmmm......)
Thats my brother's fault, he explained watches to at least one of those people.
Having been to Bark's little rural enclave many times, I don't like the chances faced by any would-be burglar or robber. Even if you could dig through his famously messy and absurdly large home to find the watches, the neighbors would start off by shooting to wound, just for their own amusement.
Good neighbors are hard to come by!
Guilty
No shame. Farah’s take on mechanical watches is similar to mine- I love having this machine that tells quite good time and can survive 3900m under water (unlike me).
Yes, but Mark actually purchases them, rather than renting them...
renting watches is still unbearably cringe
The first time Jack mentioned it, I thought he was kidding.
It's like renting a lobster dinner to look "fahn-see," but you can't eat it...
True, but not as bad as the women who buy dresses to wear to an event and then return them.
wait... that's a thing you can do? I had no idea.
Oh the hor..ology! 😂😂
*golf clap*
Wow.
It sucks to want to be good at something, to believe you have some spark of talent or ability that just needs to be fanned to flame, only to find out you are not good and probably never will be.
I’m terrified that this will be the case when I FINALLY start doing OTDs at Waterford next year. I think I’ll be pretty good based on my rental karting experience (please feel free to lol) and my very limited track driving experience working for an OEM. But if it IS the case I don’t plan to pretend I’m good…
I wonder what else Jonny is delusional about.
I have run into this many times, with Army officers I worked for, as well as (the son of) small business owners I worked for. Extreme self confidence in the face of zero evidence of competency is an amazing feat.
Waterford Hills is awesome! You'll have an instructor for at least your first session. Listen and follow their directions carefully, the line isn't what you may think it should be. From there just work up pace as your confidence and brakes allow. OTDs aren't for measuring how good you are anyway.
I wonder if someone has ever posed that question to his wife.
Being willing to suck is the first step of so many valuable journeys.
so true, but there is a key difference in being willing to suck and thinking you don't suck.
Swear to God, I was not intent on achieving a triple entendre. Especially when it comes to defending the sort of participation trophy auto journalist here under discussion!
might even lead to the presidency
Double entendre achieved. I need to think more carefully before I re-write Adventure Time quotes!
One of the most interesting characters in Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence was the painter who had a deep appreciation of great art but could only paint cliches. Spoiler: kept trying, did not end well.
For a bit of context:
I just ran an enduro at Ridge Motorsports Park... team of four drivers in a Ford Focus race car. We also used Race Hero to track lap times... best lap times: first guy (experienced SCCA racer) 1:59.85, me (NASA sprint racer): 1:59.78, third guy (no comp license) 1:59.9... last guy (team owner and experienced enduro racer) could have put down a faster lap, but we were leading P2 in our class by 2 laps, so last guy saved the car running 2:00's, and brought home the win... I believe if a driver was more than 5 seconds off the average team pace, they would probably not be asked back...
Yeah. There's like a 3-second buffer you can throw at it to preserve tires, save a bit of fuel, maybe keep heat out of the engine... beyond that you need to have a real plan if you're going to cut additional pace out of the stint.
This is going to sound shitty but it's not really meant to be... the team uses a photographer at the track, and the owner lets her drive during practice, or if we're not competitive, in exchange for her (excellent) photography work. She's significantly off the team pace, but she's just doing it for fun. But when I say "significantly" I mean like 10 secs or so... your man in a high-power race car being 10+ sec off the team pace is pretty pathetic. Even if he couldn't carry speed through WG's corners, the horsepower should at least eat the straights the same...
I mean, I'm genuinely curious if they detuned the car during his stint? For his safety?
detuning his car for safety would entail pulling 7 plug wires
Wow! 😂😂
"I mean, I'm genuinely curious if they detuned the car during his stint? For his safety?"
My opinion is that EVERY power to weight class in American motorsport is a cheaters paradise so I can absolutely see them having several maps.
"those bastards like it tight"
no you obese retard youre just incomprehensibly fat to italians
"$6500 or more per weekend"
this sounds almost affordable if all you need to do is show up and race
"He could decide to show me"
he wont lets be real here
i figured italians in italy were the type to have a cigarette and an espresso for breakfast whereas the italian americans looked more like tony soprano
I wonder if there's an equivalent to _Albion's Seed_ but for Italians? I sense that the US got a particular subset of Italians, probably heavily Sicilian and virtually not at all Tyrolean.
I was at COTA for the US Grand Prix back in 2015. It was pouring buckets, and behind its pit garage Ferrari had erected an appropriately elaborate (and, being F1, probably expensive) awning over what was essentially, a bar just tall enough for the mechanics to lean against and just wide enough for each of them to position an espresso cup and an ashtray.
it was one of my favorite things I saw that weekend - a line of F1 mechanics sipping espresso and smoking under an awning specifically designed for exactly, and only, for that purpose.
Where did they put their never-ending breadsticks?
My favorite F1 driver was Alessandro Nannini. He would drink espresso and smoke cigarettes before qualifying and the GP. Pity he had the helicopter accident just as his career was taking off.
Dunno about breakfast, but certainly after lunch and dinner. Also during morning and afternoon breaks. Turin was really fun…
“Incomprehensibly fat to Italians”.
I bought a Beretta shooting jacket once. Didn’t try it on first, thinking an XXL should be enough. I was wrong.
tailor made for me off the rack then
I'm a 60L in Brioni and Zegna off-the-rack.
SIXTY!
And remember, Brioni was John Wayne's tailor in his later years! They should know about men of, ahem, size!
I'll never not be fat again. The last time I was unfat I was 32 years old, running 4 miles every morning and having very little lunch. That allowed me to hover at 195 pounds.
If current trends continue i should be 226-228 pounds by Christmas, but i doubt I'll stay there very long. It sucks to work long hours and eat one meal a day.
I have one Zegna hanging in my closet, where it will stay, ignored. It nominally fits, but the armholes (I have no idea what tailors call that part, but I mean the shoulder end of the arm) are cut so close that they do not allow any airflow to the armpits. Hideously uncomfortable for any extended period of time. Nice material, though, I'll give it that.
Is that a 60 IT or US?
😉
60 IT, thank God.
I'm a 48 Long in Hickey Freeman and HartMarx.
Italian sizing is substantially different than ours. Some of the heavy equipment I buy from an Italian company and a factory rep offered to give me some swag. I am an American XL, the jacket and sweatshirt he gave me are both marked XXXL and fit perfect.
same experience with a shirt I once bought. Italians are tiny little men
My wife bought me an XL wool shirt for my birthday, a really nice one. Trying it on was shockingly dispiriting for the one minute until I realized it had come from Italy.
Thank you, I laughed so hard I shot a cocktail peanut out my tear duct...