Whipped
Today was almost entirely consumed by a brutal 10 and 1/2 hour drive from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport to Messina, Sicily (including, naturally, a 25-minute ferry across the Italy-Sicily channel). Repeatedly becoming mired in slow, one-lane traffic in southern Italy’s mountainous area, hour after hour after hour, was far more stressful than I anticipated. Jett doesn’t drive a stick so I was at the wheel start to finish so I couldn’t even post from the iPhone.
Saturday, 5.22, 1:10 am
Wait…Simon Monjack died? Of “natural causes”? I pulled over to a rest stop this afternoon to ask director George Hickenlooper, who had an unpleasant experience with about Monjack over Factory Girl, for a comment.
“Its a sad and pathetic story,” he wrote back. “I loathed Monjack and what he did to Brittany Murphy. Regardless every living thing has a soul and its classless to bash someone when they’ve passed. So all I’ll say is I hope they’re both resting in peace, but not together. She deserves better company.”
Doesn’t drive a stick? That’s pitiful! Tell him he needs to learn.
thats nice you and Jett are in Italy. Enjoy yourselves, boys.
yeah I heard about Simon Monjack’s death. WTF, natural causes? Wasn’t he only like, 40 years old or something?
While the scenery may be awesome, I hate driving in mountains. At the end, I always feel like someone has clamped a metal claw into the middle of my back from all the tension.
When you were planning your trip to Messina, did you draw a map of Sicily in the steam on a mirror?
Another chink in the purported Wells Alpha-Male armor.
Why would anyone born after 1985 know how to drive a stick?
I’m 24 and can’t drive a stick. Only people who take cars really seriously drive stick shift.
Indeed… Always some gearhead wannabe-McQueen talking up stick shifts like it’s some bullshit indicator of extra manliness or something.
Fuck a stick shift. I’m just trying to run to CVS to buy shampoo, I don’t need to be DOWNSHIFTING like an asshole and I don’t need to have “control” over the car. All these stick-shift assholes are worse than Mac users. “I feel like the car’s driving me when I drive an automatic, I like to have control over everything.” FUCK. OFF. LOSER. It’s a CAR. It gets you from place to place. You’re not Cole fucking Trickle drafting Russ Wheeler on the inside lap.
Why would you WANT to be thinking of switching up gears and shit at every stop? It’s always some manual transmission motherfucker going up La Cienega at the light at Sunset all ROLLING BACK toward my bumper because of that stupid fucking stick shift.
Stick shift = Asshole.
They should ban manual transmission everywhere in the world.
It’s like that old Jerry Seinfeld joke about Asians “sticking with the chopstick.”
Born in ’88, never learned to drive a stick, although I did try when I was 15-16 before giving up.
yeah I heard about Simon Monjack’s death. WTF, natural causes? Wasn’t he only like, 40 years old or something?
Just looking at the guy’s photo on the Yahoo!, front page, it’s clear he never met a bowl of donut ice cream he didn’t like.
Also, yes — having many Indiana-farm-dwelling relatives growing up, I learned to drive stick real fucking quick.
Well, natural causes in as much as it was “natural for Hollywood”. If he hadn’t been married to a movie star and lived in Peoria, this might be a shocker, but as it is, not so much.
And I must admit – 40 years old here, can’t drive a stick. Only had to do it once, when I had to move my roommate’s car from one side of our street to the other so he wouldn’t get a parking ticket – must have taken me 10 minutes. Not that big of a deal – if you go car shopping and the salesman tries to point your towards a stick, you just say “nope…next”.
I think Jeff should get a statement from REAL HICKENLOOPER because somebody obviously hijacked his main email account.
I can drive an automatic.
Meant “can’t”. Sounds like it should be easy, though.
Sticks aren’t just for gearheads, and mastery should remain a skill learned by all boys. Manual transmissions save gas, and require a less powerful engine to navigate hilly drives. Try driving cargo up a mountain in an automatic with anything less than a V6 engine and you’ll have issues. You must know if you plan on driving abroad.
OT, on the list of antiquated basic skills that i wish I had learned in youth, please put penmanship. I just saw all the signatures on the Declaration of Independence; very impressive penmanship.
Sorry to pull a DeeZee, but here’s David Edelstein’s review (essentially a pan) of SEX AND THE CITY 2:
http://nymag.com/movies/reviews/66185/
Well I doubt you’ll have too many traffic jams in Sicily. The island is oversupplied with multiple lane highways (courtesy of the vast amounts of money which flowed to mafia-linked contractors) You’ll have a great time though. It’s a stunning place. The posting of any home movies welcomed
Never learned to drive a stick. I’m 51 and I don’t miss it.
STICK POWER
f***, LexG style comments are so tired. But I do love the ol’ stick. If you have an underpowered, old car, you can get more out of a stick, especially driving up a long winding mountain drive, because you don’t have to wait for the automatic to shift.
“Jett doesn’t drive a stick”
I’m just amused by the contrast between this and Jeff being so impressed with his Final Cut skills.
I don’t mean any disrespect by this; I can’t drive stick either.
Terry: If you’re gonna pull a DeeZee, at least link something people don’t know.
Anyway, from Digital Bits:
Carlos the Jackal French teaser.
Hitman 2 director revealed.
Marty, Bobby, and Al to tackle Dean and Frank?
Inception posters.
This Jonah Hill interview reminds me too much of that Edgar Wright spoof.
It’s that easy!
Liotta and 50 Cent, together at last?
Oh, and Liotta’s in some movie with Zeger, too.
Now you might only have to wait a month to get VOD for a new movie.
From Just Wright to Jumping the Broom.
Who will get the opportunity to try some Dickens?
DWA goes down?
More airbending.
It’s like Gran Torino, but in a boxing ring!
“Terry: If you’re gonna pull a DeeZee, at least link something people don’t know.
[...]
Marty, Bobby, and Al to tackle Dean and Frank?”
Correction: If you’re going to pull a DeeZee, at least link to a project that’s been rumored for literally a decade, and throw in a couple of idle — yet totally unsurprising, if true — casting speculations.
Wow, a lot of stick hate. And a lot of obnoxious stick support. My wife and I have had, I think, 5 cars at this point, but only one of those was an automatic (#4 in the series). And that was a much easier car to drive.
But…we went back to a manual because we simply have more fun driving one. There’s no need for anyone to know how to drive stick (unless you want to drive outside of the country, which is often unnecessary, even for frequent travelers). And it’s no longer a rite of passage. But they still exist, and there is purpose behind them. Just do what works for you and calm down.
Jeff – hope you’re having fun now that the trip is over.
thats nice you and Jett are in Italy. Enjoy yourselves, boys.
yeah I heard about Simon Monjack’s death. WTF, natural causes? Wasn’t he only like, 40 years old or something?
I’m almost tuning into these columns more for the increasingly-hilarious spambot shit, than I am for the actual user comments themselves.
I know what you mean, Bandsaw Vigilante. The one right below your comment is pure comedy gold. And helpful – next time, I’ll make sure not to Chanel Bags hurry when buying.
I guess none of you will ever go to Europe then. Not really a surprise. America is the best. We know. Stick? What’s that? FUCK stick. A car is a car, I’m a simpleton, and I don’t want to learn ANYTHING ELSE! You’re all ignoramuses.
3 things I wanted to teach my kids
1. golden rule of treated others as you want to be treated.
2. how to swim
3. how to drive a stickshift.
You really don’t drive a car unless you shift. Plus it’s another device to stop – downshifting in slippery, icy, conditions.
But driving in heavy traffic can be a real pain especially going uphill.
More vacation photos please!
Killer Inside me trailer.
Will the troubled Euro hurt world-wide sales?
Wall Street 2, the Southwest version.
Bowler’s next gigs.
Mass Effect the motion picture.
Oh, and the Revolucion interview is televised.
And the Golden Globe for Best Condescending and Presumptuous Comment goes to…
ARIS!!!
Sorry, aris. You only get a Golden Globe. Oscars are reserved for those who assume that people who don’t know the capital of Luxembourg donate all proceeds from their book (titled “The Jew-Martian Alliance: How Barack Obama Is a Transformers”) to Haliburton and TEABOC (Those Europeans Are a Bunch Of Commies).
I think P.T. Anderson is a far better filmmaker than Von Trier. I must be a simpleton ignoramus.
Go take a long walk off a short fuck yourself.
Driving “stick shift” – or, as we would say in Europe, just “driving a car” – is what seperates the men from the boys.
“You really don’t drive a car unless you shift.”
Oh please. I mean, I can respect the added control it gives drivers, at least to a point, but this statement is just ridiculous.
“Plus it’s another device to stop – downshifting in slippery, icy, conditions.”
Plus it’s another device to tie up your hand when you’re trying to downshift in slippery, icy conditions. I have a friend who drives a shift, and he’s gotten in countless accidents (and some that have totaled some of his cars) over the years, while I have just accumulated a few scratches in close-calls. Granted, he always drove a lot more than I ever, but still…
Kane, your friend is a bad driver, full stop. A good driver doesn’t get in “countless accidents”.
I live in Sweden. Knowing how to work a manual tranny is obligatory, especially if you live out in the country like we do. Little old ladies know how to drive a stick here.
I think people should be taught to drive stick. It helps in future life to learn it as you’re learning to drive a car. Then you can always have the option of choosing when you’re older. But American roads are so large and the towns and cities so square that it’s really not necessary most of the time. Automatics are fine.
Trollywood – I knew things were swinging in Sweden, but I never knew that “working a manual tranny” was obligatory!
Didn’t he die in the same room Brittany did? Someone want to check if there’s ricin in the water there?
Driving stick is more visceral and connects you to the world a little more – like owning a chronograph versus a digital watch. Or preferring a fan to air conditioning.
I had to learn stick after driving automatics for years when I moved to Rome. I was freaking out about it.
I was probably the oldest person in my class. If a 17 year old can learn to drive a stick in crazy ass Rome anyone can.
Most rentals places (especially outside the major cities) don’t care any automatics.
So far I’ve only met Italian man who has an automatic and he lives in the Center. I get it. Who wants to downshift in stop and go traffic?
When I do buy a car, I will get a stick.
I do think automatics will grow in popularity in the big cities but not by more than a few percentage points.
Here, being able to drive means you know how to drive a stick.
Trolly — By “countless,” I meant more than two, which admittedly seems like a lot for me. But he drives all the time, and he’s not what I would necessarily call a “bad driver,” even by my strict standards. But thanks for your input.
Maybe if you ever leave Sweden you’ll learn that things can get a little trickier when there’s more than 3 cars on the road for any given 10 mile stretch. A little thing we call “traffic” here in the States.
The cost for P90X is about three months of a paid gym membership but you get to keep the program forever
The cost for P90X is about three months of a paid gym membership but you get to keep the program forever
I bet if Brittany had left him all her dough instead of NOTHING, then he sure would have had something to ‘live for’.