Jack Olsen Envy

[pwd72s]

"I like porsche does that mean I have to act like a half fem, writing essay's on how this guys style is cool." -BigBPainta

Don't worry about it Big B...so far, I haven't read too many strings accusing YOUR style of being "cool"....

[Brian993]

You wont either peewee, I'm not cool, I am vicious. I am not part of your click dear old sir, so I dont expect your compliments only your criticism. Hows your shoulder? I hope your feeling well soon. God bless.

[turbo dave]

BigBpainta:

Dont worry this is my last response you will be rid of me as spring is here and it is time to move on.

Hmm, you're still here... Too much coffee this morning? Not enough? Take a deep breath, nobody hates you here, and you don't have the right to hate anyone else, so just chill a bit and let others admire a car.

While we're on the business of admiring a car, a very quiet Randy Wells hasn't mentioned that he got top time of the day at a recent Seattle area auto-x, whooping ass over a bunch of S2000's, 993 C4's, prepped Corvette's, etc. Second best was over a second behind. Now that's another sweet car, with numbers to back it up!

[skinnerd]

geeeeeeez.........what a great post!

I second the motion that Randy Well's car is amazing... in planning, execution and results. I'm going to have a beer! -Doug

[Leland Pate]

My congrats to Randy!!!!!

Now if only I could convince him to put some decent Safety bumpers on that thing!!!!!!!

[911pcars]

Here's the self-effacing man himself. Nice car, nice guy too.

Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars
www.seinesystems.com

[tight as a bull's ass]

you can all kiss my ass!

(just kidding)

[Jgordon]

All right, I'll bite, what has this guy written?

Just for argument's sake, I fall into the category of thinking all this praise is a little over the top. However, if you feel something should be said, I guess that's why they created internet boards. I'm also in the category of "if you don't like what's on, change the freakin channel." my .02.

So seriously, what has Jack written that I'm exposing my ignorance by not knowing?

[Planter91C2]

i can see where the bigpainter is coming from. if he was around when i first signed on he would have witnessed even more "asskissing".

i can understand a compliment here and there, but the non-stop fawning is pathetic. kinda reminds me of a guy who had to many beers falling all over a woman at a bar.

and the title of this thread is simply disturbing. it is a play on words for a common saying referring to male genitalia (p*nis envy).

all i want to say is we all have nice cars and enough is enough.

pretty soon we are going to see board members on their knees with somones car's tailpipe in their mouths.

[Jim T]

Originally posted by Jgordon


Just for argument's sake, I fall into the category of thinking all this praise is a little over the top. However, if you feel something should be said, I guess that's why they created internet boards. I'm also in the category of "if you don't like what's on, change the freakin channel." my .02.

I agree with you. I read this thread very early on, decided I wasn't going to read it again, but when it got to 3 pages . . . I could not resist.

I also wasn't going to post, but your post was exactly what I was thinking, so could not resist saying that. It does get a little over the top sometimes (although I don't think this tread is that over the top, because most of it is at least true. There have been others that have been much worse, where knowledge and experience on various subjects are attributed where it really doesn't exist. (What's the opposite of "self-effacing?")

I don't know what Jack has written outside of this forum, but I have read a lot of Jack's posts here, and I find them all very enjoyable. To me he is a guy that is actually out there, fixin' up his car, experimenting with it, racing it, working on it. To me that is so much more interesting than some of the "experts" here that dispense mainly book information.

So, there. While I started out saying the praise posts are over the top, I then piled on with more praise. Go figure. (but I still am not a fan of them, for a lot of the reason cited in this thread).

[Jim T]

Originally posted by Planter91C2
i can see where the bigpainter is coming from. if he was around when i first signed on he would have witnessed even more "asskissing".

Damn, another one I can't resist. You are so very right. Although a lot of that was so absurd that, even though it was intended to be serious, it was actually funny.

[Jack Olsen]

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.

[michaelw]

I am not the frequent poster like many in the "click" BigBpainta talks about, but I check in mulitple times every day and do my stealth reading.

I agree the homage to Jack is a bit thick at times but who cares. Jack does'nt seem to revel in it, proven by the fact it's obviously above him to jump back into this ridiculous thread. It would be different if there were a bunch of egos here, but there are'nt.

Hey Jack, kool car, nice site and great wife. But, you know what? I think my car is awesome and my wife is'nt bad either.

Michael
87 Targa

[tight as a bull's ass]

Jack,

As a moderator of this board, shouldn't you have moved this thread to the OT section about 2 days ago?

I see a conflict of interest here.

[ginpunk]

Yeah, but how do I fix the leaks coming from underneath my car?

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by ginpunk
Yeah, but how do I fix the leaks coming from underneath my car?

I'd suggest keeping BigBPainta away from your wheels...he's admitted that he's vicious...the "leak" problem should stop.... I LOVE being called Peewee, BTW...I mean. 58 years old, 6'3", 240 pounds, look and smell like a old Brahma bull, and he calls me pee-wee? Arm is getting better, thanks...in the MD's office, checking the injury, I could curl 175 with the injured left arm...well, really..just lifted the 175 pound Doc off the floor. but it's a motion thing...today I learned that swinging a splitting maul isn't in the cards...not yet anyway. Twisting motions needing strength are a problem. Thanks for your concern...and prayers. And please DO hang in there...if you don't, the clique might start picking on me!
Jack Olsen? He's a nice guy with a cool car & a cute wife. That's the impression I got last year at Cambria. I also respect and envy ANYBODY who can look at a blank piece of paper and create...making a living at it. I think that's an amazing talent. If that is to be considered ass kissing, so be it....

[Brian993]

Wow, I love this man! I even got peewee trying to act like a big shot. I could care less if your seven foot two. Its all in fun. I like to joust dont you get it. If I ever met you I wouldnt want to fight you, so you can stop puffing yourself up with the 175 lb. arm curls. I'm ten foot four and can curl 310. Jack if Jimmy D. was queer thats ok with me I like his style as I like Rob Halford, he likes the trouser trout himself. Not me I like butterflies and porsche. Not big on Barry Manilow, he's no pickle smoocher but he'll do till one shows up. SO anyways how do I fix the damn seat belt relay its driving me nuts.

[expatriot98]

I love you, Jack.....

[Kurt B]

Jack's a nice guy with a nice car. Personally, I'm of the same DNA strand as Rarly, who's a self-admitted ass with a totally f'ing groovin car.
I just need the car.

Which brings me back to my post on the 2nd page. A 916 Rep with a 2.7 and no smog. It's gonna rock.

I'm gonna go check out a few cars this weekend.

Then I'm really gonna go out spanking folks without respite.

[Fishcop]

Excellent Kurt, I definitely LOVE "Fishcop Blue"