Will you please let me have a moment!
 

I posted this in the Lounge but also wanted to share my news with 'the locals'

I know pride is a deadly sin but I am just so happy and proud at the moment I just wanted to share.

Movie World on the Gold Coast are presenting a new show later in the year - Hollywood Stunt Driver - and my son has scored a full time job as one of the drivers!!! Over 1100 applicants and only 12 spots available.

He has been a performance driving instructor since he was 18 (he is now 22) but he has always wanted to be a stunt driver.

Rehearsals get under way later this month with the show due to open in December.

This link shows his audition video and the manoeuvres were all part of their selection criteria.

http://tinyurl.com/5bg5j2

PS I taught him everything he knows!!!

Congrats!

I'm not sure pride is a deadly sin. It's certainly not deadly, and if done right is no sin. Pride is a mother's <i>privilege.</i> ((*))

Congrats!

That's a big accomplishment - 1100 and only 12 spots? Wow...you both should be proud!

Melodie

Good for him! Great driving - and I bet you had a buzz co-driving for the audition tape.

I used to love the Batmobile at Movie World, it was a great simulation.

Wonder if the Hollywood Stunt Driver show will have passengers as part of the act?

You deserve more than a moment, stormbird. Congrats on your son's achievement, hope to see him &quot;in action&quot; down there one day.

Congratulations, Stormbird!

Lee Ann

Well done stormbird. congratulations to your son.

Hello again stormbird, of course I saw this in the Lounge but I have thought of your son all day and just wanted to say..his driving skills are awesome! But of course you know that as did the judges.

And truly..your son learned all his driving skills from you??? I wish we could see a video of you driving..way to go my dear!!!

That's wonderful news. I am even willing to go see the show when I am next on the Gold Coast. Do you think he is prepared to wear a sign saying &quot;Stormbird's son&quot;? :)

Hi again Love,

I think my sons driving skills are really instinctive and am not sure if I can really take any credit. We have a friend who was a performance driving instructor and he would take us out on the skidpan and teach us about controlling under/oversteering. They were great nights and I loved skidding around the track.

We did this for quite some years and the kids would be strapped in the back and truly they took it all in. This was all very controlled and really not done at high speed at all, surprisingly low actually!

When the boys were around 5 and 7 they used to argue over which side of the back seat they were going to sit and in the end I had had enough and asked them what difference it made - well, you can see the drivers gauges better from the rear passenger side! They used to 'monitor' everything for me - fuel, temperature, oil etc. Talk about back seat drivers.

When the boys were about 13ish they got a bush basher and some bush to bash in - that really taught them about 'drifting'.

Would you believe that in the video the 'car skidding into a parking space bit' - Matt had never done that until about 6 attempts before that was shot. Neither had he done a J Turn i.e. travelling in reverse and snapping it into first to change direction, until about 4 tries before the final video shot.

I believe that he sees things very clearly in his mind how it needs to be done and then just seems to be able to put it into reality.

He now competes in drifting competitions and is doing very well. We are currently building up another race car and I can't wait until it's finished as it will be extremely zippy and will hopefully, give his competitors a real run for their money, though the competition is full of like minded young people and they have a fantastic comraderie among their racing fraternity. They just love to drift and winning is a bonus!

That gives you a little bit of background and I thank you for your kind words.

Hi stormbird,
Interesting to see your comments on Matt's ability to see the plan in advance, as I thought he must have excellent spatial skills when I saw the clip. Not to mention speed/distance judgement ;)

I grew up in the country in Australia &amp; we all pretty much learned to drive when we could reach the pedals, too. One of our &quot;bush bashers&quot; was an ex US Army jeep (left hand drive). We also had an old Blitz and it was a great teacher of the art of dollying an awkward gear gate and a gear stick nearly as tall as the driver. After WWII, a lot of the ex-US army vehicles were bought for stations ('ranch' in the US) &amp; it wasn't all that uncommon to see &quot;Caution LH Drive&quot; signs swinging from the back well into the 50's &amp; early 60's.

I count myself lucky, in this era of over-protected &amp; suffocating parenting, that my friends &amp; I had parents whose philosophy was that if it had wheels, we should all be properlly taught to drive it, and if it had 4 legs, to ride it. Apart from the skills &amp; wonderful adventures, we also learnt first hand the value of common-sense, responsibility &amp; resourcefulness. The latter came in handy when explaining certain 'adventures', occasionally, too ;)

Maybe those old ex-US army vehicles are the reason for lots of Australians not being worried about driving on the opposite side of the road. At least the controls are in the right spot these days (LOL)

I applaud your engaging with your boys &amp; encouraging their skills - it's even better when your folks learn something with you, isn't it?