My Shiny New Profile Gif (and the video it came from).

"Taylor Martin" (tjmartin) 08/26/2020 at 11:24 • Filed to: None

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You like?

I saw other Oppos with their cool gif images, and the picture I first used was a video of my car before hand, so I just did some minor cropping, added a blur effect, and boom! Now my car seamlessly repeats itself across my profile icon forever and ever and I love it.

What I love even more is the video it came from. Back in March, just as COVID was about to spike (the first time), me and a buddy thought it’d be funny to make a mock Top Gear episode where we socially distanced from the trunk of my Acura TSX SportWagon... ok, truthfully, this was entirely my idea, but dragging Bob along would make the experience both bearable and unbearable at the same time.

Thus, GearSlip was born.

Now, I’m not saying we’re as funny as the holy trio of James, Jeremy, and Richard, nor do we know enough about cars to be qualified to talk about cars, but you don’t have to look hard to notice the imitation (and imitation is the highest form of flattery).

So to anyone waiting for September 4th to watch the new episode of The Grand Tour, or to anyone who’s bored out of their minds and want to watch two best pals/worst enemies do dumb stuff together, then have I got the video for you.

Just one frame of me (right) and Bob (left) being dumb.

I’d love to make more, I’ve wrestled with the idea of making mini GearSlip episodes on my own, but after years of being a content maker (from short films to gaming youtube channels, and many things inbetween), It hit me...

I’m not funny. At least not on my own.

So, while Bob’s in Maryland and I’m in Florida it doesn’t fee l right making any more. If nothing else, GearSlip is a buddy thing where me and Bob get to h ang out. Cars and cameras just so happen to be involved too.

One last thing before I sign off today:

While I don’t want to make GearSlip stuff, I’ve considered the idea of writing more “professional” things on her. Stories that are structured more like journalism than... well... a random sh*tpost.

Now I know what you’re thinking:

“This guy just did his first oil change and now he wants to write about cars. He doesn’t know a thing about them. He’s the least qualified person to write car articles.”

And you are absolutely right. But I am working towards a creative writing degree, and journalism is a field I’ll likely enter. If at all possible, I’d like to write about something I like... and that happens to be cars.

So I’d practice here a bit. I have a draft article ready to go about the p sy chology of dents and scratches and the meanings behind them (a little research mixed in with personal experience). I like sharing personal experiences, but I also like sounding smart when I do... even though I’m not...

I’d also like to write about odd cars and the history behind them. Automobiles (or Oddomobiles) that most normal people probably haven’t heard of (although there are people on Oppositelock !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . I don’t think that’s normal, so I’m sure any history I throw at you would be nothing more than a refresher).

Anyways, I have to drive an acquaintance ( who I don’t real ly like all that much) to the DMV so she can “get a card.” No clue what that means. All I know is that I have to navigate through Orlando which is always a treat.

Take care folks.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Taylor Martin 08/26/2020 at 14:05

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Very nice, but I am a neat freak about my TSX Waggo and this is giving me palpitations . Did I see a Full Sail hat? I know a musical genius that went there for the technical side. Sounds like a cool place. 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin 08/26/2020 at 14:14

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I haven’t finished watching that yet (and I might be a whole day before I get to do so) but that is some seriously good editing. The way you stitched the shots together is really impressive. The background music, the camerawork, the production quality itself, you could go places with those skills.

I am impressed because over the summer I challenged myself to learn video editing. The footage I shot was crap which only forced me to try harder to make it watchable. I mean this is best thing I’ve ever done in the medium:

But really, I liked it a lot from what I’ve seen. Perhaps more impressively is your behavior on camera. T he banter doesn’t feel forced or awkward. It feels natural in the way that only hours on camera allows you to act.

Though I have to point out you said your 201 hp car can struggle to get up to highway speeds. Sure, it’s heavier than my 136 hp car and has one less gear, but I think you need to drive some slower cars to appreciate the TSX. Does it have V-T ec?

Taylor Martin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 08/26/2020 at 14:42

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Video editing is monotonous and, truth be told, most film people’s least favorite part, so I commend you for even dipping your toes in. I’ve liked it because it gives me something to constantly focus on. This one video, for example, took about 2 weeks of 6-8 hour days worth of editing. Sifting through footage, finding the good stuff, and then all the little things like sound and music. Editing can be a real b*tch, but I love it. I can’t explain why, it’s hard to explain why, because most people don’t find clicking buttons for hours on end to be fun, but I do. If you ever want tips, pointers, or a pal to help edit stuff, I’m more than happy to lend you a hand.

I’m psyched you’re enjoying it. It was just as fun to make as it is to watch, because that’s just the kind of friendship me and Bob have. I’d love to make GearSlip a full fledged thing, but I know I could never do it without him.

As for the little tidbit about my car, it is kind of slow. It certainly doesn’t feel slow, but a 0-60 will take me about 8 seconds. Other friends who have b igger SUVs (with bigger engines) tend to smoke my car, and because those were t he cars I hung out around, my car was the slow one. V-Tec is equipped, and it shows. 20-40 mph feels “so good” for lack of better words.

Though, I’d certainly love to drive more cars. It’s kind of a life goal of mine because cars are cool and every car is different.

Taylor Martin > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 08/26/2020 at 14:51

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Apologies pal, I can understand the appeal, but I’ve always had a thing for cars with a bit of wear and dirt on them. Besides, if I didn’t go down that muddy, unpaved road, how would I be able to test the suspension and break our backs?

You did see a Full Sail hat, I’m currently enrolled for a Creative Writing degree. Originally I was in the Film degree, but when I learned how technical it was I switched. I’m much more of a behind the scenes (as in writing and editing) than I am about working the camera and lights.

Full Sail is great! 20 months for a bachelor’s degree and I’m already 12 months in, so by next year I hope to have a job (writing about cars, advertising, or otherwise) and become stable, while also fueling a love of cars. That’s incredibly expensive, but it gives me something to work towards.

Right now, however, Full Sail sucks. The school transitioned seamlessly to online in the midst of COVID, but they’re still charging campus tuition. Online classes feel so optional, and I’m honestly doing more writing on this site than I am for school. (Outside of class I’m editing someone’s novel , inside of class I’m writing a 10 page script, which sounds like a cool assignment, but at this point I’ve done it 10 different times).

As of now, I’m more focused on getting a piece of paper to get a job than anything else. Most of my peers feel the same way.

Anyone in the music industry has my respect, there’s a ton of moving parts to it and they’re such creative people. I like listening to music, but I could never make it (and if I did, it certainly wouldn’t be good). It’s funny, we both drive the same car, which is really cool, and we’ve both heard of this one particular digital arts school. It’s a really really small world haha.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin 08/26/2020 at 15:04

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Yeah, I found that labeling every single clip and deleting a few terrible takes makes it vastly easier. Like “hour 1 Taylor poo 4 ” and then “hour 15 Bob lemon 5" makes it so much easier to sort. Of course I had a much smaller sample size.

I don’t have the equipment to create good footage but editing can be fun for me. Not as fun as shooting but as long as it isn’t paid work I find it fun. Mainly just chopping up a video with some music for the 15 Oppos that click on the link since I have no influencer aspirations. Besides, solo shoots aren’t as fun and I don’t know anyone else that likes filming or photography that isn’t so much better at it than me that it’s embarrassing.

My Cruze (well, it’s technically mine but not in practice anymore) probably pulls a 9 second 0-60 but it’s so hard to find information because I have the rare 1.8 and almost all the tests were with the 6 speed 1.4. It bogs at the start and has no mid range and has no top end acceleration. It’s s l o w but s l o w enough to have fun without being dangerously slow. It feels about 1000x faster in semi-auto tiptronic mode and you can actually get enough revs out of a corner. Plus, the chassis led it to dominate the world touring car championship for years so it’s quite nimble.

Taylor Martin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 08/26/2020 at 15:23

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The only real way to test a 0-60 time is to actually drive that 0-60 time... which I definitely haven’t done before... because that would be unwise.

For this, I just threw all the footage into my editor in chronological order and then looked for where there was spikes in the audio. You can visibly see the wavelengths and when it gets taller, that means it’s louder, which usually means there’s some talking going on. Then, after going through and cutting out all the dead silence, I went for the funny bits. Is it an efficient system... no... but I like it because then I know I’m not missing anything, and have more footage to work with in the first place.

Also, you may find is surprising , but almost every shot was recorded on two Iphones. My Iphone SE (the older one, since they remade it) and my friends Iphone 6. For the interior car shots we clipped them wherever we could, the sunglass case above the gearshift, air vents, and even build a little lego phone holder for that side shot. For the exterior shots, which were recorded on a seperate day, we just duct taped phones to the windows on the inside of my friends car and he followed us around. Super low budget, but the footage came out great.

It’s funny, the crappier exterior shots were filmed on this bootleg gopro. They look like crap, but they were good enough and filled in the time .

The one thing we didn’t skimp on was the microphone, because audio is important. I stole one from my dad, who’s a big music guy, and jerry rigged it into my car so that it’d record us evenly, like a shotgun mic.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin 08/26/2020 at 15:55

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I won’t be redlining my car anytime soon. And I don’t trust the trans to be very durable at high revs. Not that the engine likes to rev anyways.

I suppose you couldn’t watch the 24 hours again thru so it makes sense. I have never had to deal with long uncut footage before.

I did notice how good the audio was. You said it was just that one center mounted one, which makes it even more impressive.

I also noticed the pi nch points in folding the seats down and how that crammed you guys together in bed haha. That didn’t look comfortable.

Did you have another person do the exterior shots? They seemed kinda meh in quality but there was no camera shake which is good.

Taylor Martin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 08/26/2020 at 16:08

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The sleeping arrangement was small, but we had a full kitchen and bathroom in the trunk ... sort of... regardless, we made it work.

The exterior shots, specifically driving shots, were done from a different car. We duct taped the phones to the drivers and passengers side windows and hit record, then drove down the route again. They were ok, but that’s because we had no control over them or the angle they were pointed in.

The phones were also pressed up against glass, which may have messed with the quality a bit.

I don’t really push my Acura too hard anymore (unless you consider long drives pushing it hard, which I do a lot). Also, I’m no racecar driver. So when I ever so safely tested my 0-60 time (in an empty movie theater parking lot during the COVID closures), I would typically shift at around the redline, but rarely over.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Taylor Martin 08/26/2020 at 16:32

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My friend could play drums like a pro when we were in middle school. He is Billy Idols drummer when he goes to a gig, he teaches drums and he also has a studio job. He has perfect pitch etc.. He said it was a good place. I should have gone in the Coast Guard instead of the Marines, if I had to critique my decisions. I’m just protective of the wagons because how many more wagons will there be?! I hope if I do need to get a new car at some point I can find a used V90 Volvo someday, but I like the Acura. 

Taylor Martin > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 08/26/2020 at 16:43

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Wagons are kind of dying out, at least in the states, which does put a damper on my spirits. For us, now that we’ve had a taste of the wagon life, there’s no going back. I think my next car (or second car if I’m lucky enough) would be a stickshift, likely an older subaru O utback/F orester (I think the pre 2010 facelift Foresters are more wagon than SUV) though an old Accord or Cam ry wagon would work too.

Everyone I blab about my car to says it looks like a shoe, and apparently that’s a bad thing. I like this shoe. It’s a sporty shoe.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Taylor Martin 08/26/2020 at 17:29

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Well it’s not a BMW clownshoe! I think our wagon is pretty cool to look at, some very interesting lines. Outbacks are more like a CRV than a wagon, they were very clever, if you ever see them parked together you can see. My dream is a Volvo V90, they have a ride height adjustment . I would have to drive one but it looks great. I would like to get these parts for the front end of my wagon :

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin 08/26/2020 at 17:36

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Even with the somewhat amateur setup I thought the video quality was very high and you produced a watchable and unique video. It didn’t feel too long or too short. I think you nailed it. Thinking about doing anything else?

I’ve never done a full 0-60 in my car but 0-30 lots of times. If you actually want to get over in front of a car at a stoplight, you have to give it around 2,000 rpm before releasing the brake not to bog. Makes a world of difference with my kinda terrible auto. Even going flat out I usually get passed by CVT Nissans after 30 mph because my hard launch doesn’t make up for the closing speed of the lead footed Karens. The Cruze is a properly slow car by modern standards in a way that people who don’t care about cars notice.

Still, it feels like it’s trying in a slow-car-fast way so it’s still fun to get back on the throttle after nailing the apex of a parking lot island. Though the sloppy floppy suspension lean and low seating position makes people used to driving from command seating freak out sometimes even when not going particularly fast.

Taylor Martin > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 08/26/2020 at 18:25

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Oh-ho-ho man that is one menacing front end. I really like those headlamps, though I don’t have any grudges with the stock, circular bulbs either. Also the whole idea of an offroading wagon is so lucrative. They look great on the dirt (ok, they look great in a lot of places) and with a slightly tweaked suspension, and some serious off road tires, the wagon could have some fun kicking up dirt.

I’m more of an XC70 guy myself, but maybe that’s because I like boxy design... and boxes in general. My d ad had an XC60 for a while, it was the car I learned to drive in because they’re built like tanks, but it had so many electrical problems. Maybe it was just a run of bad luck, but every other week something broke on that thing, and it wasn’t even old (a 2016 in 2017 I think). Comfy car, fun to drive, AWD, but not what you’d call electrically stable. Older Volvo’s with less technology seemed more reliable... because they didn’t have the technology.

Taylor Martin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 08/26/2020 at 18:32

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I have plenty of ideas, and plenty of roadtrips I’d love to go on in less than idea automobiles. Bob does too, the only issue is we’re over 1000 miles apart, and virtual GearSlip just doesn’t work. Glad the video was watchable haha.

Yep, I heard about the 2,000 RPM trick, and used it when need be. The TSX just doesn’t go fast from 0-10, then 10-20 the V- TEC kicks in, 20-45 the handling gets sharp, and then we’re back to a slow trickle of acceleration around 45-60.

The suspension on the TSX kind of glues you to the ground in a very comfy way. The car doesn’t l ean much, but you certainly feel the weight shift around if you fling it around a corner. Highways are a nightmare, because try as I might, the car does not light high speed acceleration . That is, unless I drop down from 5th to 3rd and rev like mad, which I sometimes do if I see some turd trying to cut me of. The it’s right back to a smooth, leisurely 5th gear.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin 08/26/2020 at 18:48

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6 gears is the correct number. Though the 4 speed auto in my dad’s truck isn’t that bad though it sure doesn’t get the mpgs. It’s not so many that you can’t keep track of the gears in semi auto but it also has efficiency gains over 5 gears.

Curiously, my car is geared low enough with the auto that you start to notice the revs around 80 and at 90 you hear it. It’s necessary to get so little hp and torque to not feel dangerously slow but I think they could have made 6th longer.

The steering on my car is interesting. Most small cars have fast vague steering (see: 2010s Civic’s floaty boaty  steering) but the Cruze has a super slow ratio. Decent steering feel for an early electronic power steering system and I like the wya it encourages straight line driving by simply putting its excellent handling a little out of the way. It’s unusual but easy to get used to.

Is it really called something? I just came up with 2k because it doesn’t stress the transmission much to launch in if you just know the Karen in the MDX is going to use every single horse she has for no reason to race to the next red light 100 feet down the road. I don’t understand that when people get mad at you not going to the speed limit when you could go 10 under and still wait at the next red light.

If you’re ever coming through my neck of the woods I could recommend plenty of places to visit or maybe meet up one day when social interactions are less risky.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Taylor Martin 08/26/2020 at 18:56

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If I got any of that front end I would just do the whole thing. It would be cool to have other wheels. The Volvo V90 can lift up for bad roads I think. The first XC90s with the Yamaha engine are great, I know a guy that swapped that engine into a 240 wagon.

Taylor Martin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 08/26/2020 at 20:29

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It’s funny, because every so often I’ll accelerate way faster than I should from stoplight to stoplight... maybe I’m the Karen...

I like the steering in my car simply because it changes depending on how far my foot is to the floor. For easygoing highway driving, the steering stiffens us so that I can just guide the steering wheel, whereas if I’m really gunning it, even at highway speeds (which I haven’ t) the steering gets lighter and the car responds quicker to my inputs. It adapts nicely to whatever circumstance I throw it in, and that’s cool.

Likewise man, though I can’t say I know which neck of the woods you’re from. There are a ton of Oppos on here I’d love to meet, chat , and drive around with. If you ever find yourself in Orlando feel free to reach out.