what's up?

rats

saw this interesting rat rod in one of the parking lots surrounding the race track, er, the streets of downtown riverside. seems to be a work in progress.

lots of little details to find here and there.

bullets, guns, rats, chains, skulls…it’s just a fun car to look at.

owner was a nice enough guy, and was happy to point things out to us.

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…

hellbound

i must say, life keeps on keeping on. car shows come and gone, and i missed them, and it doesn't matter. got other things on my mind, and there's always another show, another year.

mother-in-law in, then out, then in the hospital again. supposed to get out later today. guess that's how it's gonna be for a while. that's what we all have to look forward to, if we're lucky enough to live that long. my dad is up to bat next, just needs to get that scheduled.

myself, got stuck for lab tests today. annual physical coming up anyway, and to see if there's something i might be allergic to, though that has never been an issue, like, ever. [say it like a teenage girrrrl]

anyway, things may be going to hell in a handbasket, but i got my hairs done red again. kept that appointment; if anything happens, it doesn't matter if i was there or not.

so i'm gonna look good for about twenty-four hours, then i'll just go back to shabby old me, but with red hair. sometimes i wish i was good at girling...make-up and hair...but i just can't. i'll just keep looking like a pudgy long-haired version of my brother.

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hoping to head back to whittier tonight, and post more pictures. that i can do.

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here's a shot of something different from my usual. need to clear my head. fugly, but interesting at the same time, these beaters are distinctly unique [redundant?], and can be slightly challenging to frame up or find which point to focus interest on.

exhausted

quick post; i've been up and running since four am. not unusual for me on a weekday, but weekends, i prefer to sleep in. and i've been so busy at work, doing extra hours to meet deadlines—i hate tradeshow season.

anyway, made it out to garden grove and the hillco annual super cruise before the big game. was somewhat disappointed this year in that the turn out at five thirty in the morning wasn't what it's been the last few years that we've gone. add that it was overcast and really a nothing sunrise, with a hint of drizzle, i suppose that could be the reason. loved the overcast though, the big softbox in the sky. kept it way cooler than the average year at this show.

i'll write more on my next post, on another day. supposed to rain the next couple of days, so i will probably stay down at my mom's, away from the computer.

owner of this rat was curious, but only barely. asked if he would be able to search for a picture of it on the net. he could, but that would take way more time than just looking me up. tossed one of my cards through the roof hole...lol.

this shot shows a more overall view of the thing, but i kinda like the profile picture, which maybe i'll put up another day.

off to bed now...

junk

i sometimes take pics of these rat rods. canabalized old cars frankensteined into something more interesting, usually feature fun, unfinished textures.

there weren't too many at the super cruise, at least during the few hours i was there. this one happened to park across from the dukes' cars i was shooting, so when people stepped away from it, i took a quick detour to it. only took a couple of shots. liked this one best.

some thing

found this thing parked between two semi-trucks. just random. so i randomly shot a picture of it. no hood ornament, so otherwise, i don't know why i did.

i do like the sunrise light.

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just back from a weekend in san diego. probably will be down there a few more times this year.

sunday morning, we hopped the little red train down to barrio logan to get some breakfast at the market. was fun watching my better half ordering from the lady at the register, who didn't seem to speak english.

his mom was born in and grew up in new mexico, of mexican parents, but refused to teach his sister and him to speak spanish—figured they were in america, they should speak english. still, he knew enough words to get the order right. i took years of spanish in school, was married to a mexican, and still can't speak it at all, so good for him.

after we ate, we walked around chicano park a bit. never went there when it hasn't been full of cars. mostly empty, with some sketchy people hanging around the edges and under the overpass. they must move them out of there at car show time.

when pigs fly

love hood ornaments. non-standard ones are often more fun. found this one on some random rat rod.

maybe i'll collect them some day, but not now, as i really don't have a shelf to put them on. maybe on my desk at work, next to to giant fox tail hanging there already.

rat

found this rat rod around back of the industrial park at the super cruise. its pretty beat to shit, and seemingly haphazardly put together. but if you look closer, the small details are really fun to discover. seems to have a thing for skulls too. wonder what freud would say to that?

the mottled paint is the color of rust, but it really isn't rusted at all, and it adds a wonderful layer of texture to the thing. and hells yes, real bullet holes instead of the stupid stickers!

work in progress, or will they stop here?

spudnut racing

quick pic. already running late on somewhere i'm supposed to be.

found this rat rod way out at the end of the street, on the other side of the railroad tracks, at the rialto run whatcha brung show. i think the owner next to him said they'd arrived late, so parked out there in the shade. they did also get out and drive the circuit once in a while. the other owner also said i'd made this guy's day because i bothered to take a picture of it. such small things can make people happy. don't think i gave him a card, so i suppose he'll never see it, but its here, hiding on the internet in plain sight. you never know.

ttfn

bump uglys

darn rain. love it, but not when i plan to go to a show. weather guys can't call the weather right either. stupid idiots.

anyway, i tried to stop at hooters on friday night...no rain, as was previously predicted...apparently no real show. not the first time either. think i'll stop trying this friday night show anymore. there were two cars over by the tommy's burger, very nice, but i didn't feel like setting up without asking if the owners minded—and i assume they were having a burger and wondering where the hell the other cars were, just like me.

would have stopped again at hooters for their monthly show today, but by the time it would've/should've started, the rain had finally arrived. and it poured. so, pfft.

so now, i'm going to just play with my cars all evening, since my better half needs to get some work done, and i apparently distract him, so i'll leave him alone in the other room.

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here's a rat rod i saw a couple of weeks ago at the broiler. sun really is setting early by the time i get there now. doesn't bother me; just the people that get in the way, walk through the shot, and aren't polite enough to move out of the way. at least these people were on the other side of the truck in this shot; they'd already messed up a previous shot, and were heading back this way, so at least i got one ok pic. they couldn't hear me yelling "numbnuts" and worse under my breath, which is probably a good thing.