Everybody Says That
“You did it! Congratulations! World’s Best Cup of Coffee!”
Remember that line from the movie Elf? Will Ferrell (as an elf) is walking down the street and he sees a diner with a sign in the window that says “World’s Best Cup of Coffee”, which causes him to run inside and make that proclamation. Of course, the joke is that people (or is it only Americans?) use the term “World’s Best” to advertise all sorts of products, which Will Ferrell (as an elf) had no concept of.
But for each type of product that exists, there has to be something that’s “the best”. So when it comes to a hotly debated subject such as sandwiches, everybody has their opinion.
Well, here’s mine: The Ace of Sandwiches, located in Palo Alto, is my pick for “best sandwiches”. Certainly in Palo Alto, at least. Maybe in California. Maybe in the world! If there’s a better sandwich out there, I’d like to try it.
Since it’s right down the street from where I work, I’m a frequent customer. They recently redid the layout of their parking lot, leaving a huge space right out front. And it’s always vacant, because it’s a handicapped parking spot. Every time I go there, a vision of a particular shot appears in my head. One sunny day, I said to myself, I’ll get a brightly colored car, park it right in front of the store, and take a sweet snap of it.
Well, last week, I did. And it came out just like I had imagined! Perhaps this is the beginning of some sort of series?
A New High
I’m pretty proud of that photo. I usually don’t like to talk about my own work (mainly because I feel that it has a long way to go), but I think this photo is a real zinger.
Nice composition full of top-notch elements; an iconic bridge, the beautiful California coastline and a beautiful Porsche 911. The only real downside to this photo is the shadow of the giant pole in front of the car, which I could possibly Photoshop out, but prefer to leave intact for some reason.
I had to wait a while for that shot. Bixby Bridge is a pretty touristy spot, and there were dozens of cars parked not far away.
While I was waiting, the shadows were a bit more mellow due to the roving marine layer providing diffused light here and there. In my head I kept shouting “hurry the hell up!” while knowing full well that these old farts had as much right to be standing there snapping as I had to be clinging on 15 feet up a rock wall waiting for them.
The “real” photo ended up with a bit harsher light due to more direct sun, but then again that means the image has more contrast, which is probably a good thing. The only downside is that the pole’s shadow is stronger. Then again, I kind of like the horizontal element of that shadow for some reason.
And here’s a bonus snap of my chariot from while I was waiting for those dudes to move.
Road Closed?
No way! This road will remain open for the foreseeable future. Hard to believe it’s March already and I haven’t made a post in 2016 yet. Yikes. This post will be a bit of a blog style chronicle, because there’s good news: I managed to take photos of the most interesting things that have been keeping me busy since the last time I posted here.
One of the most exciting developments is a nice selection of 675LT’s have come across my path.
There are literally infinite choices with regard to color, which is probably why I always find myself being drawn to whatever I saw last. Unlike certain other cars where people tend to buy particular colors, McLaren owners seem to like to differentiate themselves by ordering something different.
It can be painful when you’re actually driving something insanely bright and eye-catching, but you reap what you sow as soon as you get out and look at its glory.
I’m not sure if I could handle owning a car painted Napier Green, but my eyes are drawn to it like bees to a flower.
Yabba dabba doo! This car is from McLaren’s press fleet, which gave me plenty of leeway to take it for a proper drive.
And of course that included a stop by this prehistoric sculpture.
I shot a 2015 WRX for SuperPro Suspensions–that was pretty cool.
Where can you find such exquisite carbon fiber?
In a Volvo, of course.
For a cool 800 bucks, you can have carbon fiber inlays throughout the interior (the rear doors also have them). I can’t think of any reason not to! That much carbon fiber in a McLaren would cost you several thousand dollars.
Speaking of which…what’s another hot new car with carbon fiber trim and Bowers & Wilkins audio?
That would be the exquisite new McLaren 570S. I would take one of these over a 650S–it’s a more satisfying, engaging drive.
It took me a while to warm up to the styling, but the more you look at it the more you appreciate it.
Beige supercar, eh? It works.
Even though I’m not a teenager, sometimes I still partake in a bit of carspotting. 997 GT3’s are some of my favorite cars…ever.
My first time getting a media pass at Laguna Seca was for this ChumpCar race; I shot the Belgian VW Club as they piloted a Mk4 Golf TDI.
That was great–it’s amazing how many great vantage points are hidden behind fencing at Laguna Seca. I finally got to shoot at the bottom of the corkscrew!
Most recently, I participated in the “Coastal Range Rally” held by Driving While Awesome. I wrote an article highlighting my experiences, so check it out.
Okay, I promise to keep this site more updated. There are actually a few posts in the works, I just haven’t gotten around to finishing them up. Keep an eye on this space!
Only the Best?
That is a 2007 Porsche 911 GT3. Of all the 997’s I’ve driven, that one was easily my favorite. In fact, of all the cars I’ve ever driven, that is one of my absolute favorites. Every control is perfectly weighted, the chassis is balanced, and the engine just sings to 8000 RPM. In short, it’s one of the greatest driver’s cars of the 21st century.
That Prius was my daily driver for a while. Whaaaat? Yep, my Scion FR-S (another one of the best cars I’ve ever driven) was recently at the dealership getting its transmission replaced under warranty, so I had a loaner car.
And you know what?
I loved it.
Okay, so it’s not a 911 GT3. A Prius doesn’t turn, go, or stop nearly as well as a Volvo, let alone a Porsche. It’s also butt-ugly inside and out; the seat shape and steering wheel arrangement put you in a weird driving position; and the interior materials are uninspiring and crappy, even compared to a Corolla.
But it has a decent stereo and a reasonable trunk, plus a ton of legroom and enough vertical space to wear a top hat.
And for reasons completely unrelated to Porsche, the Prius is fun to drive. Yep, I said it. So you don’t have to back-track, I’ll say it again: the Prius is fun to drive.
Have I gone insane?? Nope. You still take it to the limit in a Prius, just in a different way. There’s a meter in the dashboard that shows your throttle and brake inputs, which you use to try to maximize the battery’s intervention. In particular, I really get a kick out of braking right at the limit of the regen meter to get the most energy back into the battery. And if you accelerate slowly enough, you can do so without waking up the internal combustion engine and continue to cruise as a polar bear friendly EV all the way up to 44 miles per hour.
The other strangely alluring thing about the Prius is something that is very important to me. After driving it all over the place for a couple weeks, I realized something: every single time I got out of it, I felt relaxed. For some reason the Prius gives me a zen-like feeling about being stuck in traffic. Repeatedly getting cut off by people who immediately slam their brakes doesn’t seem so offensive in a Prius, plus there’s that whole EV function, which really takes the edge off stop-and-go traffic because your mileage actually improves when you’re inching down the highway at twenty miles per hour.
Just because the Prius has none of the most important things I truly value in an automobile doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate it for what it was designed for and what it actually does.
But that seems to be really difficult for many people.
The announcement that I got a Prius loaner was met with derision from everyone I told (well, except my mom). Which I find strange because people never share any personal experiences about how bad a Prius is, just how theoretically evil they are. Hmm, that’s actually starting to sound just like my FR-S.
I see the same thing all the way up and down the spectrum, from the lowly Prius to hypercars like the Veyron. People are so quick to unleash negativity. Maybe it has something to do with the internet, where negativity attracts attention and people seem to be more interested in “winning” an argument than actually having a discussion with someone.
One problem with the internet is that it’s given everyone a voice, but not everyone knows what to do with that power. There are a lot of people talking, but there aren’t a lot of people with something to say.
But even more dangerous is that people don’t understand why they say the things they do.
Take the C6 Corvette for example. There are so many things that might come to mind when looking at these cars, but online discussions always come back to one place: the interior. Guess what? It’s really not as bad as people think it is. In fact, for the time it was released–2004–it’s not bad at all.
Want proof? Go search for what a 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo interior looks like, which was loaded with the switchgear from the lowliest Audi’s. Or how about a 2004 Porsche 911—yes the 996, which has that roundly loathed interior. If anything, this should serve as a reminder to just how far automotive interiors have come in the past twenty years.
But people don’t care. It’s much more fun to argue about bullshit than to actually have a realistic outlook, right?
Which brings me back to the Prius. Does it sing like a Ferrari? No; it actually sounds quite bad even for a four cylinder.
But, when you think about it, the Prius achieves its goal of being very quiet and unobtrusive most of the time. It also has plenty of space for passengers and cargo, is extremely reliable, gets excellent fuel economy in the real world, and so on and so forth.
Most importantly however, if you drive a Prius the way it’s meant to be driven, it’s really fun. Just like a Porsche.
Star Road 