what's up?

aware

i think i’m trying to block the sadness i’m feeling from losing my brother with something that makes me happy—going to cars shows and posting pictures again. it’s a nice distraction. i’ve missed it. i don’t miss the heat.

i am supposed to be scanning old family slide carousels to digital, but the little scanner my older brother loaned to my mom sort of sucks. fifty slides in, i decided to check the quality. i’m not liking the color. i guess i’ll reset the little scanner to the defaults, and just be done with it. but i’d rather work on my cars…

this week, better half and i decided to go to the latin gents’ cancer awareness cruise. forgot to bring my hat, but i did smear sunblock on before we left the house. i am aware that my pale skin and genetics will predispose me to a lovely sunburn, at the very least.

better half had to be out until about one in the morning, so we both slept in a bit later than we otherwise would have liked. we didn’t arrive until after ten, and the sun was cooking already.

we spent about an hour, shooting just two aisles of cars, before i needed a break from the sun. we went into carl’s jr for about another hour, having a burger and chugging some water. figured the light wasn’t going to change much in the middle of the day to make a difference in the pictures anyway.

only spent another hour and a half after that, and i’d had enough sun for the time being.

this is one of the latin gents’ club’s cars. i don’t remember a red fleetmaster from anywhere, but i haven’t been going out much the last couple of years, so that doesn’t mean anything.

silly us, after this show, we decided we’d drive out to legg lake, and check out the bbq show going on there. another forty minute drive, we could cool off in the air conditioned car, and be ready to take more pics.

well, we drove to the gate on rosemead boulevard, which was closed, but had a sign to take the freeway one exit to another gate. this allowed us to pass by where the cars should’ve been. well, by about two pm, there really wasn’t too much there to justify paying the entrance fee, so we skipped it. headed back to our old hood in uptown whittier, and better half picked up some overly zealously garliced chicken and some sides at the chicken koop. it’s currently stinking up the refrigerator. he says it’s very good, but i haven’t ever tried it. maybe another day.

headed home after, and we both took naps for a few hours.

thinking about hitting up huffarama next weekend, if the fires in the area are out…

not today

imperials show was today. intended to go. better half says when i wake up arguing with myself about going to a show, he already knows i’m not going, and goes back to sleep, no need to walk me out to the car. so, ya, one of those days.

stayed in town. went back to sleep after breakfast, instead of driving away. decided to go for a walk when i woke up. unfortunately, it would have been an ideal day at the show, as it stayed overcast until about one p.m., at least in whittier. walking uptown, i noticed some sort of thing going on a block up philadelphia, tents and vendors selling stuff. took a detour from my walk to check it out. whatever it was, they’re terrible at advertising it.

going with casita del pueblo running it, as it was all latin culture sort of stuff for sale, t-shirts with skulls and aztec symbols, paper mache art, jewelry and food trucks.

at least, i wasn’t the only one who missed the imperials’ show – lo and behold, the “mayor” was there, with his fifty-six.

he said he was invited, but was unable to go. i guess i just wasn’t up to hoping they’d let me in early.

pretty buick from the other day in cypress. nevada plates, but a boyle heights flag or whatever you call those metal things. so confused.

still around

went out to the just memories/kustom classics toy drive last night in bellflower. i’m a bit rusty, as i haven’t been out as much.

got there about four-thirty, before the official start time. really just some of the club cars there, and mostly the hopper types. shrugged and just went with it, since i was there.

figured i try to remember how to do night shots like i used to when i’d go to the broiler. have you noticed how fast the sun takes a dive this time of year? just blink and it’s dark early, too.

no one really bothered me, while i skuttled around trying to stay out of the way, as more cars did show up eventually. the lot got pretty full by the time i left three hours later.

i did run into one friendly face, who did chat for a bit. apparently he had heard i’d been in a bad accident, hit by a car or something. first i’d heard of it. wasn’t me, obviously, as i was there chatting with him, but fun story anyway. i was expecting to start hearing stuff, since i don’t go out much—family obligations get priority—can only juggle so much.

this was the last shot of the night. i’d done one more look around, and saw this one sitting in front of carl’s. i’d shot it from the other side, as there were a couple of guys sitting where i’d set my tripod on the other side, but then the owner, i presume, said he liked it better from the other side. i saw that it had the spare tire on it, so i agreed. told him there were dudes there and didn’t want to bother them, whereupon, he got them to move.

it turned out ok, in spite of people that did walk through my long exposures.

to the wordsmith that felt the need to send me the email “ur dumb” with the three word message: “this website sucks,”… i applaud your economy of words; precise and to the point, yet lacking in any real constructive criticism. be still my heart. what shall i do?

no one is keeping you here. perhaps you should stick to the instagram page—no reading necessary.

and then i got on with my life…

toy drive

made it out to the dukes/latin gents toy drive yesterday. more cars than i expected. several people i've gotten to know a bit, even just on a passing hello basis were there. always makes me happy that there are familiar faces where i go, since my better half can't go with me much anymore, ya know, in case anything happens.

ernie, with the latin gents, always comes over and says hello. happy belated birthday, ernie! perfect day for a show, perfect weather...you guys lucked out.

several well known cars made appearances too. this master deluxe is one of them, in all it's stretched glory, sitting down practically on the ground.

even after being there for about three hours, stopping to eat across the street, and the sun going down, i still saw cars driving in as i headed home.

i saw the sun was starting to set, and that the sky's colors were going to be beautiful, but i didn't have the energy and my legs were pretty stiff from sitting a bit, to stop back over there. things to do at home, getting ready for whatever happens with my dad this week. and apparently, better half is about to start decorating for xmas, as he's pulled all the stuff out of the garage already. my yearly grinch is already percolating to the surface...grumble grumble.

missed mooneyes

i know, i know. should have been there. sorry, i was outta town. even managed to miss the whittier parade that passes outside the window.

back in whittier, watching the intersection. seeing my own parade of old chevys and a cadillac driving through going to who knows where. maybe uptown to the ceegar bar? maybe i'll wander down the street and see. those shots just end up on instagram.

couple more from the latin gents show. beauties, both.

was there at the end of the show. stayed for the awards, and the raffle. bought tickets, but didn't win anything. didn't need a tv anyway, though the cash would have been nice.

nighty night

got out of my house late in the day. forgot how early the sun sets now. by the time i got to the latin gents show, sun was fully down and the lot lights were on.

gotta deal with long exposures, weird shadows thrown across the cars, and people wandering through the shots. true, there weren't so many cars by this time, so fewer people, but there were a few kids chasing each other. cause to mess up a few shots, as well as worry about knocking the camera over.

anyway, most people stayed out of my way, so thank you.

i haven't been shooting much at night since i bought the new cameras. don't really think they work as nice as my old cameras. too late now, one is retired, and the other gifted to my sister-in-law. she's a big nascar fan, so works well enough for her.

this was the first shot of the night. beautiful car. picture is a little darker and noisier than i would like, but it's ok.

hawg

got off my butt for a little while this past weekend, and headed over to the latin gents show. i was tired and it was somewhat hot, but i did it anyway. was heading to the oc to see my mom and pick up some mail, so why not?

lots of cars, though i arrived a couple hours after it started. talked to several people that i'm familiar with, and haven't seen in a while.

i know ernie and his wife will be looking for pics of his new ride...just haven't gotten around to it, and deciding which one is best.

after shooting a few viejitos cars that were there (their annual show coming up in a week and a half), i came back around and saw a few cycles sitting near the dj booth. this one looked familiar, and after checking out the plaque on the back, knew exactly where i'd seen it before...at last year's annual viejitos show.

as i was done and packing up, the owner came over and said hello. he remembered me from last year, and sheepishly admitted he'd lost my card. mmm hmmm. handed him another. he said he'd be at the show again this year, but first was going to the torres empire show. i've never been, and he said a little bit of everything shows up and i should really check it out. maybe, but i doubt i will. too many people.

pretty, shiny things

another from the latin gents. i wanna say this belonged to the same guy that closed a bunch of car hoods last time i was at the show. and this time he was busily buffing the dust off this car before i got to it. i could totally be imagining it, but i like to humor myself sometimes. wish he would have moved the not so interesting sign further away, just for a few, but there you go. shot it as i found it.

crossroads

there have been a few new shows listed on dave's site recently, at least i've never seen on it before. this is from the good times show off crossroads parkway, in the carl's jr parking lot. figured if there wasn't much there, we could just go to fry's down the street.

there was a pretty good turnout: lots of chevys, lots of low rider cadillacs, and lots of hydraulics being bounced around. the show started in the late afternoon, but the sun is still dropping fairly early, so started shooting as quick as possible. there was a space of time before the parking lot lights came on, where it was pretty dark, and hard to see the cars. i still took some shots in the various lighting conditions...never know what you'll get. always learning, so practice, practice, practice. see what works and what doesn't for a picture.

there were beautiful cars from one end of the lot to the other, but this was one of the first group of cars we looked at. the owners were friendly and brought along their nice, big pit bulls too.