what's up?

mr bill

i met mr bill at the show in riverside.

i saw his car the evening before, as the sun was going down. he turned his lights on for me.

(it wasn’t my favorite shot of the car, but i’ll include it here in the gallery.)

i saw him again the next morning, about six-thirty. he asked if i remembered him. yes, of course. turned your lights on for me.

i shot around the outside of the car, then he said i should check out the inside. saw the mr. bill doll, and said in the voice from saturday night live, “oh no, mr. bill!”

he said his name was bill, and i think he said his wife or a friend had given it to him.

he told me he’d taken three years of classes from some well-known craftsman of upholstery, at a college, until the college said he and the other students were just using it as a car club hang out.

mentioned that his wife had given him the task of sewing up some pillows, thinking that it would keep him busy for a while, and that he’d actually enjoyed it, and quickly finished the project.

he said he had reworked and stitched the interior of the car himself. it’s immaculate, and for some reason, i can’t find the pictures i took of the seats.

it is a beautiful car, and he was quite charming.

the turquoise and white paint job reminded me of the keds tennis shoes i had as a kid. you know, the ones that dyed your socks and feet turquoise blue. those were the days.

into the frying pan

better half and i spent last week in san diego.

busted our asses at work, for the weeks leading up to time off, lots of overtime and stress. it’s almost like we shouldn’t bother taking any time off, as we’ve already made up the week and then some by the time we go. same when we come back. we’re both getting burned out, and were so ready for time away.

should change our titles to design jugglers.

anyway, our mini vacation really started about six in the morning on a saturday, with chicano park day. first in-person show in a couple of years. heard they might limit the number of cars to something ridiculous like one-hundred and fifty. by the time we left around eleven, there was at least twice that, a hot sun, and thousands of people.

didn’t even get to shoot the cars up by the majestics’ house…just too many people. walking in front of the camera, almost knocking over our tripods, bumping into the lens…and it got so hot out. day before, and the days after…all ten degrees cooler. figures.

the illegales car club includes the car above. i’ve been acquanted with the owner for several years now, and i found him later in the day, over in the grass field surrounded by cars, and chatting with some people, as usual. i butted in to say hello.

known as el abuelo, he had two of his cars there that morning. i think he said he arrived at four a.m., and always seems to get spots by the freeway on-ramp.

here’s another shot of it from a different angle. the sun was coming up, and there is some lens flare, that sort of bugs me here.

feeling generous, so here are some other random pictures i shot until i find some time to work up some other cars to share, starting with the few people that did chat with me, or my better half.

the street was full, the lawn around the playground was full; the grass near the basketball courts, had very few cars, which was odd. i know there were plenty of cars driving round trying to get in, but either didn’t have registration or just showed up too late. just weird. all the space available is usually just crammed with cars and bikes.

also, for chuckleberries, i found us in the crowd of the headline pic in this article, better half talking with someone about his lens collection, in front of the chevy truck, in the sea of people.

cookhouse

this one is far from perfect, but it’s a perfectly fine car.

i love the crustiness of the paint, the imperfections all over. the beat to hell ornament. i wonder if it still lights up?

i think it fits in with the surroundings far better than the perfectly shiny impala to the side there. oh it’s difficult to choose one over the other.

i’m enjoying the gloom outside the window. more rain coming. i’m bundled up and feeling sleepy, but it’s too early for bed. i guess i’ll watch some random television until a more proper time to sleep. back to the grind tomorrow, at least for half a day. we’ll see if i’m feeling up to a full day of work yet.

still coughing up some bitter lung butter.

weekend in riverside

here’s a brief selection of images from the riverside show and go last weekend. started with friday evening cruising around several blocks of downtown riverside, followed by more of the same and competitions on saturday. i have a few more pics, i or my better half promised to upload…as soon as i can get the time.

compared to the last time i went, this show had more than expected. lots of cars that i was interested in, to balance out the newer cars and hot rods that i could care less about. saturday’s cars overflowed the streets. i think they may have actually sold out, with six hundred cars cruising and parked along the route.

since we stayed at a local hotel, we were able to come and go as we wanted. it also allowed me to skip the sunrise shooting i’d typically want to get, since we’d gotten the sunset pics the night before.

better half ended up staying in the hotel on saturday while i went out, as he’d hurt his back. he literally couldn’t move without searing pain. figured it was best to just let me go and get my ya yas out, before it got too hot. he waited for the ibuprofen to kick in, but it really didn’t help. think he has a slipped disc.

we took it easy for the afternoon, when it really got too hot for me to deal with at the show.

got up early on sunday, and out of the parking garage, just before the gate guard got there…free parking for the weekend! yippee. and off to see a doctor…

magnet

was slowly easing my way around cars at the front sight show a few weeks ago. run into tudy, who asks if i’d shot his friend’s zephyr yet, as they are about to head out to another show.

nope, i was starting at the back of the show and working to the front, which happens to be where that car is parked. so i finished the car i was focused on and headed on over.

sure it is a beautiful car. beautiful cars attract people, which were surrounding it like metal to a magnet. i guess it could be a chick magnet, but i’ll just be crude and also call it a dick magnet, there were so many guys admiring it.

the owner was following behind me slowly, so i set up to shoot a few of whatever i could get before he got there to drive away.

the other shots are ok, cliche even. i sort of just like the front here for now. that’s the owner, there, just about ready to get in and disappear.

and then...

the hood ornament off of one of my favorite cars...a fifty-six pontiac wagon from the old times car club. sort of futuristic, and vaguely reminds me of the logo my dad had for his business back in the day.

————-

only took a day before the effects of twelve hours in a petri dish, known as an airplane, became apparent. yep, as typical, i caught a cold of sorts. and the bitch of it is that i have no more sick time, and am in negative numbers on that now.

so i’ve gone to work, mostly keeping to myself, tired af, and trying to avoid talking so i don’t go into a coughing fit. my usual colds, don’t give me a fever, so i mostly sound deathly, but otherwise feel ok. i think now that it’s friday, i relaxed a bit, and i’m really feeling it heading into the weekend. i just want to sleep!

had already been evacuated from the house in whittier...suggested, not forced...for better half’s mother’s health.

seems she caught something anyway, and i was called back to help take her to a doctor. stayed for a night and am again staying away, so maybe my better half doesn’t catch it too.

kid is out of town with her dog and the new boy toy, so i’m hiding out in my own house. not much of my stuff here, and not a whole lot of furniture either. never started up cable for her, so really there’s nothing between me and the bed and that sleep time i’ve dreamt of all week, except this here ipad and me flicking my fingers across the screen.

hoping i feel much better tomorrow. still haven’t seen my dad since i got back from vacation. i want to get back to doing a car show once a week at least. and i still haven’t been home long enough to sift through vacation pics, that invariably will never get seen. well, better half wants to see...his vicarious means of going on a vacation by imagining what i saw via photos, video clips and tv documentaries to fill in details that i won’t tell him. no doubt when he asks about the trip, i’ll just say it was “ok.”

one more week

is it a good vacation when you can’t remember what day it is? good thing cell phones keep track of the day and time shift or we’d be screwed.

it’s saturday here in positano, italy, and i’m taking a day off to do laundry and rest. sooooo tired, and i have an earache. everyone else went back down the hill, which is really all this place is, to the beach to rent a boat for a couple of hours. kid never drove a boat before, but doesn’t plan on going out very far, just far enough to jump in the ocean, and knowing him, he’ll probably pee in it.

if you’ve seen my pics on instagram, we’re in an airbnb halfway up this mountain. great view. hell of a walk and too many stairs. couple of days ago, we climbed both the duomo and the bell tower of an old church. four-hundred plus stairs in each, i really was only psyched up for the dome, and just couldn’t quite make the top level in the bell tower. better view in the duomo anyway. tight stairs to climb in both, as they were never meant to be open to the public.

so, my legs are not really wanting to climb up or down this hill very far today. fortunately, there is a breakfast place just down around a bend, and pizza not far up for later. a few shops if i want to venture out, but i’ll probably just take a nap.

not posting a lot from here, since we are limited to one gig of wifi data a day between the four of us. not sure what we are doing tomorrow. i think the kid mentioned capri and a grotto. hopefully i’m up for that...we’ll see.

another pontiac ornament. i don’t post enough hoodies, and pontiacs are a fav.

on a streak

randomness:

women who can't walk in high heels. sort of just stomping their feet up and down instead of normal steps. they sound like horses walking across the marble lobby floor. but they look good.
two weeks / three doctors: latest guess is that i have a sinus infection with none of the standard symptoms. still look like i got slapped in the face without the red hand mark. yet another med to throw at it, and the side effects... oh and the male receptionist looked just like the weeknd...i so wanted to tell him, 🎶 "i can't feel my face when i'm with you..." 🎶
dad made his decision for surgery, now just has to schedule it.
one brother in the path of hurricane irma but hoa won't let him shutter windows until last minute--likely to pull a leiutenant dan to get it done; other one thinks it will miss him, so goes diving...logic?

god's eye

went to the viejitos' annual car show yesterday. got there just after the club showed up, about six am.

parked under a tree, and a bird promptly crapped on my window. is that a sign?

went over and started shooting the line up. this was the first one i shot.

i actually talked to quite a few people during the four and a half hours i was there. i've promised to post pictures of a few in particular.

i'm hoping this belonged to the viejitos member who was first to greet me, and asked about where he might see it. said it was the cream color one, but i have two in my files, that are very similar, about that same location.

i believe he said his had the doll in front of it, but that was later in the day. i have that one too, but the angle i shot it, and the doll, isn't my favorite. but i thought i could see this god's eye in the window of that one, and it was in this one, so guessing the same car.

hoodies

a few hood ornaments from last weekend. quick and dirty, and straight from the camera. i should take more hoodies, like i used to. maybe i should just shoot something totally different. i need a change in attitude, maybe a change in subject matter. just don't see a vacation anytime soon.

have been otherwise busy and melting at home today. skipped mooneyes, though i was up at six-thirty this morning. took a walk around the block and through uptown, just to stretch my legs, but have otherwise been holed up in the house all day.

heard about a death in the family today. never met her, had alzheimers, went peacefully. still sucks, even when the closest people were expecting it, they were not prepared.

saw there were a couple of other tempting evening shows, but since i said i was only going to do one show a weekend, figured i'd go tomorrow. but now it's getting late, and it's still warm outside, and i just don't know. i gotta find the sunscreen. my arms are getting all freckly from the sun and all that vitamin d.

on the other hand, if roll-in isn't until eight in the morning, is it even worth getting there before the sun comes up? especially for shows that aren't out in the open; there's always that chance that the people at the gate just won't let me in. i'll pay the entry fee, just let me in early. i guess i could always look for some club that knows me, and try to bum a ride in their car, through the gate.

i don't have time to deal with that right now. either i shoot very early, before the heat, and before i have to be home to help with my better half's mom, or very late in the afternoon. if i can't get in, i'll just go home, and watch cars drive past the house or something. maybe i should set up my tripod at the stop sign and wait for the cars to drive through uptown.