Well, this is a truly surreal thread, for me.
As a quick aside, you won't have heard about anything I've written, since (in spite of continuing to make a pretty good living at it) I remain unproduced as a screenwriter. Many things in the pipeline, but nothing on the big screen yet. I'll let you all know when the first one goes.
There is another 'Jack Olsen,' who's an established true-crime writer. We occasionally get each others email. He's a very nice guy, and -- in an odd bit of conincidence -- also a fan of the early 911. He owned four of them in the seventies, but misses his black 73 911 the most. He's got
another book coming out later this year.
It's always fun to stumble across his
titles at a used book store, for me.
But enough about him; let's talk about the real Jack Olsen.
As I mentioned before, there are much cooler 911's on this board. And there are certainly guys who are more deserving of blanket praise. Mike Marshall and Leland Pate immediately jump to mind. As nice as I may (or may not) be, I've never put my life on the line for the sake of any of you. They both have.
But I think a thread like this sprang up for the following reasons:
The 'It's the car, stupid.' reason.
My car is far from the pick of the litter, but it sits right at the dividing line between street- and track-purpose. This means people can admire it from both sides of the fence. In reality, this means it's a ball of compromises between comfort, appearance and performance, but everybody can see a little of their own car in it. It ends up being emblematic of the whole 911 range, in some ways. (Heck, I've got parts from all of the models, somewhere in it.)
The 'Hit 'em over the head with pictures' reason.
I take (and post) a lot of pictures of the car. In them, I try and capture the fun we all have owning and driving these things. Randy's car is prettier (and quicker), but he doesn't feel compelled to post as many pictures of it. The same is true of a lot of other guys on the board. Whenever Kurt Starnes posts a picture of his car, I'm blown away. But he doesn't do it as often as I do, so most of the people who read the board have seen my car, more than once. Like with advertising, the image starts to stick.
Case in point:
Makes you want to take your car out for a drive, doesn't it?
The 'Subliminal messages' reason.
See the above picture. Stare at it. I'll start to be your hero.
Joking aside, I don't see that anyone was 'kissing my ass' in any of the postings. Some guys have expressed envy at being able to have the time and resources to devote themselves to their cars the way I've been able to, but that's normal. I'm envious of Leland's opportunity to rebuild his engine and re-configure his SC from the ground up, since he came back. Nothing wrong with that. We all wish we had a little more time and a few more dollars to put into our 911's. We'd be crazy not to.
The 'Jack's got almost 3000 posts' reason.
Whoops. 3002. Because of the work I do -- which means I'm at the computer, at home, connected to the web, most of the day -- I’m always around. And I’ve got a digital camera and a Mac, which makes it easy to keep a non-stop stream of images coming. Writers procrastinate, and this board is a constant 'corner bar' waiting for me to stop in and say hello. Like a minor character with a recurring role in a sitcom, I end up with some recognition.
The 'We should all be so lucky to sink that kind of time and money into our 911' reason.
Hey, I drove a Toyota Tercel for a lot of years. I've made a little pile of money since I started writing, and some of it (more than my accountant would like) has gone into the car. I also make my own schedule -- and don't have any kids, yet -- so I can easily go and do a track event once a month. Even
I envy that about myself. It may not last forever, but I'm enjoying it while it's here. I'm lucky to own this car, and lucky to have the resources that were needed to build it. I'll be the first to admit to that.
The 'Ass-kissing' reason.
Some newcomers might mistakenly think that, as a moderator, I’ve got some kind of authority around here. Not so, of course.
Anybody's welcome to try and get in good with me, but Wayne's the guy who owns the deed on this here hangout. The most you'll get out of me is a ride.
I appreciate the compliments, though (thanks, Mike) and -- truth be told -- also the digs. BigP, I think a healthy amount of skepticism is useful in any group. I hope you'll stick around. For the record, though, James Dean was queer as a three-dollar bill (not that there's anything wrong with that). But if you say you're like him, and then call guys 'fems...' well, it's a little hard to sort out.
Above all, I hope everyone else keeps the same sense of humor about this as I do. Ask anyone who knows me, 'envying Jack Olsen' is a little like envying the good-natured potted plant on your desk. I'm just here, fixing up an old car, with a lot of guys I hope to be able to learn from.
Eventually, I think this thread is going to have to make the jump to off-topic, but until then, I'll keep saying it: this is truly surreal.
