Dan’s Blogs

Lame. That’s what this post was going to be. Lame. There are hundreds of people who have written posts bitching about how paddle shift gearboxes are taking over the sports car and manual gearboxes are becoming a way of the past. This meaning that we’ve lost the only true way to “be a part of the driving experience.” This post was going to be another one of those posts, but here’s the problem.

I’ve never driven a stick shift in my life.

I’ve never done it, I don’t know how to do it, and I’m about to write an article stating how sad I am that they’re dying out? No, I refuse to blindly write a post based on the popular consensus without actually having experienced the thing that I’m going to miss oh so much once it has gone away. I am undoubtedly a huge motorhead. I love all things cars. I enjoy seeing them, hearing them, photographing them, and now driving them. I’ve driven one sports car in my life: The 2010 Bentley Continental Supersport Convertible. It was an incredible experience. A $250,000 car, all to myself. I drove it up to about 105mph on the highway, but I could tell it wanted more. The sound was incredible, the drive was incredible, and that 20 minute test drive flew by in an instant. But, like most new cars, it had a paddle shift gearbox. Stick shift was not even an option. Paddle shift is easy, so easy that a wide-smiled sixteen year old kid like myself could hop in and drive the thing like they’ve been doing it all their life. You push “up” to up shift, and “down” to down shift. Simple as that. No clutch, no physical shifting of the gears, just buttons. I quite liked it, but then again I had never driven a stick shift before.

So today was the day, time to finally see what stick shift is all about. My friend Jake took me out in his shiny, red 2006 VW Beetle. (Don’t laugh) It had the all sacred 5 speed manual gearbox that I had heard about for years. I was ready to give it a go.

For those of you who don’t know how a stick shift works, you’re about to get a little lesson. First off, Jake picked me up at my house around 3pm. I hopped into the passenger seat and we then took off to find an open parking lot. “The school parking lot just down the road should do just fine,” said Jake. As we drove, I watched him. I remember thinking, “What a piece of cake. Clutch down, shift and you’re good to go.” He made it look effortless, working his way up to fifth gear and then crusing at a solid 45mph. We arrived at the parking lot, and I got behind the wheel. He told me to start the car, push in the clutch and turn the key. I did. Then, I threw it into first gear. He told me to let off the brake, push down the clutch, and slowly ease off the clutch and on to the gas. I tried, and failed. I let off to quickly, the car jerked and came to a dead stop. “You killed it,” he said. At this point, I became a little more nervous. I had failed at simply putting the car into first gear. We started the car back up, and I was extra careful and eased off much slower. We were off, and it was time for the first gear change into second. Clutch down, shift, eased off. “Killed it,” he said again. The day was not looking very successful at this point. “It’s all about finding that sweet spot in the clutch where you know you you can shift without a hitch.” We spent about an hour, circling the parking lot over and over. With each go around, I began to get more and more used to it. “I’ve only taught stick shift to a few other people, but you’re my best student,” he said. I was getting the hang of it. I was not to the point where I could do it effortlessly. My concentration was 100% focused on shifting. “Brake, clutch, turn, shift, ease off, ease on the gas.” I would repeat this to myself every lap we did. At one point we started talking about music, when all the sudden, my concentration had shifted towards conversing. And predictably, “Ah, ya killed it!” Jake only said this three times to me throughout the day, which I didn’t think was too bad. By the end, my skill level had reached to the point where I could drive a stick shift if my life depended on it, but I would not feel comfortable driving someone’s Ferrari.

In fact, I was invited to do just that. I was recently offered the chance to drive a 1977 Ferrari 308 GTS. Yep, just like Magnum did. That was my real motivation to finally learn how to drive stick shift. However, I think I’ll have to politely decline the offer. I’m just not ready for it. Jake said it best,”You need to have a car with stick shift that you can practice on every day. The first month I had it I spent stalling at stoplights and hiccuping in between shifts. You eventually get the hang of it, but repitition is key. Finding that sweet spot, developing that effortless muscle memory.”

It’s true what they say, you really have to know your car to drive a stick shift properly. So different than the paddle shift gear box, where anybody can hop in and drive it like a pro. So at this point you’re thinking, “Good. Now he can finally write an honest post about how the stick shift shouldn’t die.” Well, you’d be wrong. I think it should die. Well, maybe that’s a little harsh. I’ll put it this way. Stick shift is very hard to master. It truly is an art, a skill, a talent. But what about me? Say I’m the average millionaire guy who wants to buy a Ferrari to have some fun. (LOL!) I don’t want to have to fuddle around with a clutch and finding the right balance of easing off of it and onto the gas. It’s a lot of work and concentration. And for what, so you can “feel the car more?” A 360 Spider is going to take you from 0-60 in under four seconds with the top down and the wind in your hair. THAT is feeling the car. I don’t need a third pedal to feel the car.

And the majority agrees with me, which is why manufacturers like Ferrari have completely killed off the manual gear box. It’s all paddle shifting from now on. Why? Because there simply wasn’t enough of a market for the manual gear box. Paddle shift is the way of today. It’s like a video game, in a way. It’s quicker than a manual, more efficient than a manual, and much much easier.

Here’s my honest opinion on the whole situation. Stick shift is not for me. (yet) I need practice, and every first timer does. It’s not my favorite driving experience, but a lot of people love it. So here’s the question. Why can’t we have both? Ferrari claims they can’t keep it around because there isn’t a big enough market for it. If that were true, new Ferrari buyers wouldn’t complaining that they can’t get a 6 speed on their new 458 Italia, but they are. It’s not right for me, but stick shift is the preferred way for a lot of drivers out there. Seriously, Ferrari has made a mistake. Am I sad that the stick shift is dying? No. Am I disappointed that the stick shift is dying? Yes.

It was the fall of ’08, October as I recall. I was (somewhat) proud to call myself an owner of the T Mobile Wing made by HTC. It ran on Windows Mobile, or “crap” as it has been referred to on numerous occasions. It was a nice phone, old school with the built in stylus and all. I loved it for the first year I had owned it, but towards the end it became sluggish and dated. It was time to get a new phone, and I began my search. The first phone on the Android operating system was being released later that year, and I was ready to get one. When I first got the phone, I was ecstatic. I turned it on, and all the rich colors the screen could produce appeared before my eyes. It was magical, really. I’d never seen a phone like it. I was now very proud to say, “Yes, that’s my T Mobile G1 right there.” At the time, this was the iPhone’s only true competition. In my book, it’s better than the iPhone. Though the user interface is not as silky smooth as the iPhone, it’s damn close. The multi-tasking is fantastic, the integration of Gmail is fantastic, and texting on the best keyboard in the world is an absolute joy. It feels great in the hand, not to big or heavy. It’s perfect, absolutely perfect. I’m not going to lie though, my first experience was not all perfect. About a week after I received it, the phone began shutting itself off. It was a battery defect. Under warranty, I sent it back and got a new one, free of charge. Unfortunately, this one also had an issue. The screen creaked whenever you pushed on it. Once again, sent it back. After two duds, I was not too optimistic about this third one. At last, however, I got it. And as I had hoped, it was indeed, perfect. The android operating system is a pleasure to work on. Nearly two years later, and the phone works just like it did the day I got it. It’s interface is the easiest interface I’ve ever used, and trust me, I’ve tried a lot. I’ve used other phones on different operating systems, such as (obviously) the iPhone, the Palm Pre, the Palm Pixi, a few high end motorola phones and many more. Nothing holds a candle to this phone. I’ve even tried other Android phones, such as the Droid, the HTC Hero, the HTC Eris, and the Motorola Cliq. Still, no comparison. It’s funny, the first phone to run on the Android OS, released nearly two years ago, trumps every Android device on the market. You have to trust me on this, you will have the best texting experience of your life on this keyboard. This phone is simply the best phone in the world. But as with all love stories, this one too must come to an end. On June 4th, the brand new HTC Evo is being released. My name is on the pre-order list. Why would I get rid of the best phone in the world? Well, I truly believe that this phone will be taking it’s place at the top. 4G speeds, snapdragon processor, 8 megapixel camera, HD YouTube, video chatting, visual voicemail, Skype, the ability to shoot HD Video, and most importantly, it runs on Android. This thing is quite simply a monster. I’m surely going to miss my G1 and its keyboard that fell from heaven, but adjusting to an onscreen keyboard is something I’m going to force myself to do. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to post a review of the Evo as well.

Picture this: A photographer in 1965 is doing a photo shoot for a popular magazine. The photo features a woman, gazing out onto a field while sitting on a bench. The photographer lines up his shot using his film camera. He sets his camera just right, taking crucial details like the lighting and balance into account. Click goes the shutter, and the photo is taken. The photographer cannot view his work until he takes the film back to his humble abode to develop it. Fast forward one day, where he is now looking at the prints. He is unhappy with them, to say the least. There is lens flare, trash on the field he did not see, and an unwanted tree hanging above the subject. There’s nothing he can do, I mean this is 1965. In today’s day and age, he could have seen these imperfections on the spot at the photo shoot by simply viewing the photo on his LCD screen. Let’s jump to 2010, same scenario. Let’s even take it a step further and say the photographer is a purist. He does the shoot in one shot, with the LCD screen turned off. He loads the photos onto his computer. He notices the same imperfections, but here’s where the story changes. The photographer is actually quite pleased with the shot. He notices the imperfections, but the rest of the photo is quite nice. But what about the imperfections? Oh, not a problem. A few clicks in Adobe Photoshop CS5, and magically, the photo becomes perfect. That’s right, all of those imperfections are erased within seconds. Don’t believe me?

So yes, I described the exact scenario portrayed in the video. Pretty crazy stuff right? Did you watch the video to the end? If you didn’t, you should at least check out the last example. In 2 clicks, Photoshop instantly creates a seamless sky over uneven white areas in a panorama photo. Now, I’ve done the same using various Photoshop CS3 tools. Take my word on this, it takes hours. While all this is incredibly cool and technologically amazing, it does raise a debate. Has the art of photography become too computer dependent? Think about this: 99% of the images you see have been digitally altered in some way. I’m self taught in Photoshop, and it’s not difficult once you get the hang of it. So, if every day photographers can simply adorn their photos to perfection, do genuine photographers with talent stand a chance in today’s world? The uniqueness is lost when Photoshop comes into play. There was even a time when photo editing was an art, but now things have become so simple and easy, my grandma can do them. (If you’re wondering, she does not own a computer.) I suppose it’s true that the angles and perspectives photographers use add uniqueness, but the spectrum is getting smaller between point and shoot photographers who have enough money to buy an SLR camera and photographers who have the eye and the talent for it. Now, I’ll be honest. I edit my photos before posting them, so I’m being a little hypocritical. However, my editing techniques do not reach out to the extent of removing trees and creating perfect, rich skies from scratch. My editing may be limited to simple contrast and color adjustments, but it’s still editing. So where do you draw the line? I suppose how much one edits their photo says a lot about them and their photographic talent. The other side of this debate is, if we have the technology, why not use it? Photography is still an art form. Regardless of what’s done to the photo in post processing, the shot still must be taken with some level of creativity. Honestly, I see both sides of the debate. Do I promote Photoshop and post processing? Yes, but to an extent. Tell us what you think by clicking

My mother will undoubtedly be the first to tell you, I cuss quite a bit. So much so that it’s become a habit. Recently, one of my good friends called me on it. Up until that point, I hadn’t thought about my use of these “forbidden” words. It got me thinking, that’s for sure. Where did I pick this up? My parents don’t swear, my grandparents don’t swear, and my sister doesn’t swear. (Well, now she does. That one is my fault.) Before I could figure out exactly where I picked up this dirty mouth, I asked myself a question that I still don’t have an answer to. Is swearing really that bad? Obviously, there are some derogatory terms that people of certain races or religions might find offensive. That’s not what I’m talking about. Just your average four letter words. It’s viewed as dirty, unnecessary, and vulgar in some cases. Well, I disagree, and it may be just because I need to justify my cussing ways, but so be it. Swear words are not an excuse to be vulgar, at least not when I use them. They are not used to be perceived as cool or mature. They should be used to express feelings on a level that the typical “darn it” can’t touch. I’m not saying all of society should replace all of their “darn it” moments with swear words, that would ruin their effect, but one should not get looks of disdain from people when they use a four letter word. To simplify, swear words should be viewed as an expression of great emotion. The FCC obviously feels strongly about this topic, they’ve handed out their fair share of fines. We’ve all seen the clean/dirty songs on iTunes, the bleeps on television, scribbled out words etc. It’s getting a bit much. Cut the censorship America. Express your right to swear, and to those who feel it’s vulgar and uncalled for: fuck them.