Something Wholesome...

"Taylor Martin" (tjmartin)
09/07/2020 at 13:49 • Filed to: None

Hi all,

I was browsing the internet for microphones and cameras because I want to have more equipment to record stuff with. So I did some extensive research and obviously read some reviews...

Well, you’re in for a treat, because I stumbled upon the most wholesome reviewer. Gordon’s Views and Reviews. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , but that’s not all he does:

He also talks about his grass, which oddly enough is incredibly peaceful. The music, his calm voice, it’s awesome and I needed it. And while I won’t post it here, you don’t have to look deep into his channel to find some of his political commentary, which is very polite and factual if you catch my cold.

I’m now a regular viewer, and maybe even his biggest fan...

On a more car related note, a few of the articles I’ve written have been published on HotCars.com! You’re more than welcome to go tell me how bad they are, how wrong I am, and how stupid I look for having written them. So far I’ve dug into the differences between the Mazda 3 and Mazda 6 (I’m a Mazda 3 guy myself, because I don’t have an extra 15 grand to blow), as well as some truck safety stuff like No-Zones.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

A couple more articles are scheduled to be released tomorrow , and I hope to churn out at least 3 a week (it’s all about pumping out content, which isn’t ideal, but also isn’t unusual. Still, I’ll do my damndest to write decent stuff).

I’d genuinely appreciate you taking a glance at them, even if they’re... subpar...

Take care folks!

DISCUSSION (21)

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin
09/07/2020 at 15:02

I read both of those. They're pretty good, especially so for a site that you said values quantity over quality.

Taylor Martin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
09/07/2020 at 15:10

Well that’s awesome to hear, I’m g lad you liked them my friend.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin
09/07/2020 at 15:12

You made a good point about the price difference between the 6 and the 3. And so many people totally ignore the No Zone. These are good topics. So you are writing one on average every 2 days?

Taylor Martin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
09/07/2020 at 15:17

Well, I started Tuesday, so I guess tomorrow marks a week. This week I wrote two outlines at a time (which tend to be more like articles), got them reviewed, polished the articles the next day, then sent them off. It’s two days on, one day off, so year, I guess I write two every three days.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin
09/07/2020 at 15:53

Oh so that’s how you turn in ideas. Do you have a weekly quota or something?

Taylor Martin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
09/07/2020 at 15:57

I get to pitch ideas, but there’s a list to choose from with a good deal of variety. I didn’t come up with my first articles because I wanted to get a feel for writing for them before I actually wrote one myself, but that’s soon to change. No quota, you just get paid for what you write... unless you don’t write... then they let you go for not pulling your weight.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin
09/07/2020 at 16:02

Okay, doesn’t sound like a half bad gig. Where does the list of ideas come from? I assume that if you pitch an idea and it is accepted you get to write it and it doesn’t just go into the pool of ideas.

Is the pay based on an amount per click or a flat rate per story or like a percentage of the profits per story?

Taylor Martin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
09/08/2020 at 05:25

So far I’m really enjoying it! I may not know a lot about cars, but with every article I learn a bit more from my research (which you do quite a lot )

Pay is per story, and it’s not a whole lot. You certainly couldn’t live off this job even if you worked every single day, but that’s not the point. If I pitch an idea, the idea is mine. The pool of ideas come from their research team who try to predict what stuff is going to get read.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin
09/08/2020 at 09:07

Since you probably haven’t personally driven a modern 3 or 6 then it’s off to the internet to read 3 or 4 different reviews of each. At that level of writing you might be surprised how little research your peers do.

I’m not shocked to learn the pay is low but I didn’t expect an idea research time to generate topics for underpaid writers. I’d really be interested in an average time commitment per story.

Taylor Martin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
09/08/2020 at 14:34

I typically spend 6 hours on an article over the course of the two days I’m writing it, with the bulk of it being research and topic linking (where I have to cross reference other articles on the site, which is a bit of a pain).

I’m sure there are a bundle of car writers who do less research, though one day I’d like to get to the point where I can get my hands on. acar and review it myself (but then again, who wouldn’t want to do that.)

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin
09/08/2020 at 14:59

I guess it comes down to the time vs reward balance for writing for that site. It doesn’t strike me as a place where you really get to have a favorite writer and avidly wait for their next story.

Topic linking, is that like related stories and keyword tags?

Taylor Martin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
09/09/2020 at 11:32

The real reward is the fact that I can slap this on a resume. A lot of writing jobs, automotive or not, require some writing experience, and this technically counts. While I’d love to have an avid following early on, this may just be a stepping stone.

Topic linking is related stories. It’s essentially segwaying and mentioning other articles on the site. “ Mazda 3 is average or even below average in comparison to other more affordable automobiles ” would be an example of that in one of my articles.

Or you can think of it as one of the segways from Whose Line Is It Anyways:

The whole video/show is great, but I started you at a segway.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin
09/09/2020 at 11:46

I don’t think I’ve heard of that show.

But yeah I get the idea. Those linked stories take a while. In particular I’ve always noticed Murilee Martin’s junkyard gems had so many linked stories you could follow them back to the next article and then read a linked article after that for hours. The idea is solid but it isn’t always the most fun.

Taylor Martin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
09/09/2020 at 11:55

Yeah, it’s meant to get people to stay on the site for topic after topic. It’s fine and dandy, it’s just tricky to link everything together like a conspiracy theorist.

Whose line might be one of my favorite shows (right there with Top Gear and TGT). It’s all improv, which is a spectacular feat, and it never fails to get me giggling.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin
09/09/2020 at 12:11

Since Oppo for me is basically like journalism lite with most of the fun parts and few of the drawbacks like editorial standards, I’ve occasionally experimented with that sort of thing. I’ve intentionally been trying to improve my writing here and practical working knowledge of how websites function. Linking posts that would keep you on the site must be quite hard when you’ve only been with the site a little while.

Top Gear is up there but the presenters are not without their faults of course. I think Mystery Science Theater 3000 is one of my favorites because of the intentionally chees y riffing on even more chees y movies just works. Then The X Files, The Twilight Zone, Parks and Recreation, The Office UK, I like a lot of shows.

Taylor Martin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
09/09/2020 at 13:16

I haven’t seen Mystery Science Theater 3000 , though I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. Is there somewhere I can watch it online?

The content you write is really strong, and always interesting. It’s nice that on this website you can pick whatever you want to write about, the only reason I don’t post on here more is that I’m not doing a whole awful lot. I like reading the flightlines and on this date in history, and poking through the articles about cars I’ve never heard of.

That being said, since the people that are paying me prefer stories on cars that are popular rather than cars that I like (which aren’t popular), doing a write up of those cars on here would be a bundle of fun, just to learn about them.

Oppo is different for everyone, that’s one of the reasons I like it so much. It give an average Joe the keys to the editorial kingdom. Sure, you can do hardcore journalism, but you can also blog about things that happen (which has been more or less what I’ve been doing). You can write reviews, talk about the news, or be a total shitposter. This is an excellent tool (in fact, I threw it in front of HotCar’s face when they asked for relevant samples. If you’re interested, you could find a voice there for sure!)

Also, I like how this post has just turned into a gateway of communication for us and us only. A back and forth banter with no other clutter haha.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin
09/09/2020 at 20:48

Most episodes of the old MST3K series (Netflix has a continuation) are in youtube YouTube but I wouldn’t advise starting with episode 1. It’s just such a difficult show to describe but once you get it you really get it.

The show started with Joel as the protagonist and I think the host segments weren’t often as good when they switched to Mike. Can’t remember if they were very good in this one but the actual movie itself was great. The host segments can be hit or miss. Are you familiar with the premise?

Thank you. I generally write about whatever I happen to be interested in at the time but is usually something hopelessly obscure. But most of my IRL posts are photography and DOTS because that’s the only car relayed thing I really do. I hope I contribute to the variety that makes Oppo interesting. Part of it is how we all come from different walks of life but are united by our love of cars. Keys to the editorial kingdom indeed. Though I very much understand the need for stories that actually make money and get them clicks.

Whadaya kno w I was the only one who commented on this post. Good luck with your stories for HotCar.

Taylor Martin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
09/09/2020 at 21:28

I’m not familiar with the premise, but when I have time to sit down and watch the movie I certainly will. Or would it be ill advised to start with the movie?

Hey nothing wrong with being obsessed with the obscure. This is the one place where people actually know what I’m talking about when I mention a car I like. It’s also the one place I found someone who owns the same car I do, which is awesome! Anywhere else and I’m speaking a totally different language, so it’s nice to be understood.

This is sort of an out of left field question, but you’re up by Atlanta GA, right? I may have my lines crossed, but I have family down there and plan on seeing them for Thanksgiving. If I came a couple days before would you be up to spend a day carspotting or something?

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin
09/10/2020 at 00:00

Okay I think 8 can see you are less familiar with it than I thought. So every single episode is a movie, except it is a movie someone 3lse made a ping time ago that the show makes fun of.

It goes like this: A bad guy and his henchman trap a guy named Joel (and later Mike) in a spaceship orbiting the planet and force him to watch really terrible movies to try to drive him insane. He builds these robots to help him make fun of the movies, Crow and Tom Servo (plus Cambot and Gypsy but they don’t pop up much) and the show is just them cracking jokes at the terrible hot cinematic mess that goes on on the screen. Before every commercial break they come out and do a skit or something like a variety show as in the show they know they’re on TV. It’s hard to explain really but very simple in practice.

Yeah I know one person that would know what I mean with half the stuff I say here. I often send him the more interesting DOTS like that Citroen HY Van. Funny, I learned he liked cars when I saw his (borrowed from parents) boring Jeep Patriot had a 5 speed AND windy windows. It was such a terrible car but so Jalop.

I’m at Georgia Tech in midtown Atlanta, yes. I would love it if you swing by and said hello but with architecture school it would almost certainly have to be on the weekend. I’m right by interstate 85 but I also don’t have my car here.

Edit: I'll be home before thanksgiving I forgot

If you reply with your phone number or email here I’ll dismiss the comment. We could talk more about it if you’re serious. I haven’t met an Oppo IRL though I’ve texted with Under_Score a bit as we thought about it.

Taylor Martin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
09/10/2020 at 17:38

Oh I love that premise already! There’s nothing better than making fun of bad movies, so if this is just a whole show about it I’m sold!

Sounds like you’re going to be home before thanksgiving, but for good measure, I’ll happily give you my number: 301-704-2641

Atlanta is only a 6 hour drive, which I don’t think it terrible, and if around Thanksgiving doesnt work then there are plenty of other times where I’d pass through to see my own family. Also, architecture sounds like a hoot and holler! It’s a lot of math, I’d assume, but I hope you’re getting a kick out of it! It sounds like you’re back on campus, you lucky duck (or unlucky duck depending on how well Georgia Tech is handling things).

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Taylor Martin
09/10/2020 at 18:00

Oh I love that premise already! There’s nothing better than making fun of bad movies, so if this is just a whole show about it I’m sold!

Sounds like you’re going to be home before thanksgiving, but for good measure, I’ll happily give you my number: ***-***-****

I censored your phone number but kept the rest for posterity as this still is the wild west internet.

Yeah, I’ll give you a text so you have my number and you can let me know closer to the date. I live just north of Atlanta in Marietta when I’m not at school so the location doesn’t change much that way. And I have a car when I’m at home.

I haven’t done anything more than exercising my basic algebra taking measurements for first year. It’s all conceptual stuff right now. I’ve made a few models and done some digital modeling but I’m just getting started. The real math is for the structural engineers and civil engineers. I’m very fortunate to be back on campus as this curriculum would be so much harder at home. I haven’t really been socializing at all though. Gatech has been doing a great job but the frats keep almost getting us shut down.