merciful

so i hung out at the broiler for a few hours. its a different crowd now than there used to be. the vibe is different. maybe its just me. maybe its just the cold, or the holidays. i really intended to stay later than i did, but i just wasn't feeling it. 

there were a couple dozen cars there. some of the new clubs tend to gather in front of their cars and don't move. kind of bovine, just standing there. i didn't feel like out-glaring them out of the way, so i skipped them. shame.

i'd already spent time shooting cars i'd taken before. mainly, if they were in a different location, or the light struck them different than before. fricking richard's car got in a few shots, but i'll pretend it isn't there, since it doesn't exist in my universe.

sometimes, you just need to look at something differently, and it will be a lot more interesting. i've shot this one before, but i wanted to get some of the roof, then noticed the neon, then the sky, and angles and colors. just wished that the soccer mom van and other newer cars were not there, since they were hiding some other nice old cars.

this one seems to be for sale now; tiny tiny "for sale" on the window doesn't really scream that you're trying too hard.

chillin’

so i had some vacation time saved up, and i've got the week off. end of the world coming, so why not chillax? end of the world is my mom's birthday. is there some significance in that? lol.

its been raining off and on, and i love that. been sleeping in late. went to a movie today. saw the chevy at the havana house yet again. totally going to get my camera next time and shoot it. though i know i already shot it at the whittier uptown show. but different season, different light, could be pretty awesome. i'd ask your permission, but it stinks in there, and hey, you're out in a public parking lot.

thinking about driving out to pasadena tomorrow. maybe go shoot some flowers for a change. still a little bit of space on the hard drive. deleted some stuff from 2010, so some miniscule bit freed up.

also will probably end up in downey tomorrow evening. try to be there before sunset, maybe stay a little later, since hey, i don't have to get up at freaking 4:30 in the morning. all depends on what shows up. and how much my better half whines about me being out. he worries sometimes.

anyway, not going up to see my daughter, flights are too expensive...she'll have to wait until april. thought about driving to san fran for a couple of days, but i'd have to go alone, which i've done several times before, but i just don't feel like it this time. and it's raining up there all week so whatever.

here's a detail of the airbrushing on the shade thing from this awesome pontiac.

delayed gratification

there's something to be said for waiting. "all good things take time." "everything's eventual." there's the an-tici-...pation. a delicious, squirrelly itch, which you're sure will never end. sort of like love.

i suppose that there are a lot of pictures i take, that will never get posted here, mostly due to a lack of time and attention. and i apologize to any of the guys who have waited endlessly to see their car here. really, if you've been waiting that long, i wonder why you've never bothered to send me an email to ask about it. otherwise, i'm left to my own devices and whims as to what i post. and i hear that a woman's heart is a mysterious thing, at least my better half has me thinking so. let me know when you have me figured out, d. 

some days, i have no idea which car i want to post, i love them all. other days, i just want to delete them all, and go in search of new cars and new shows. and then i have days, sitting here, worrying how many more can i play with before i run out of space. come on after xmas sales! i need new hard drives.

anyway. taking a break from the legends of san pedro, to post one from the other show i went to that day. i found the token lifestyles car, of which there seems to always be one or two, at some of the better advertised shows. always immaculately painted, pinstriped and/or airbrushed. this one just seems so bright and cheerful in the craptastic background of santa ana. not one of my favorite chevys, but i liked it nonetheless. why ask why?

wonderful pointy things

here it is. again. little dvill. also from the last uptown show. his club helped out with the early, so freakin early, set up of the show. no crowds. no stark shadows. only thing better than the early morning light would be the misty fog of past years shows.

have always, always been fascinated with this car. all the pointy wonderments on the back. it could take out an eye or a kneecap. or enable self-neutering.

the ghostly flames on the front. the paint so polished, you could stare at it until you felt like falling down the rabbit hole.

he's been hiding this puppy, preferring his shiny lincoln this past year. thankfully, he has people. and those people helped bring it out for the show.

temptation

i've posted this truck before. it really is extraordinary. paint, pinstripes, and engraving. really interesting airbrusing.

this was last month at the viejitos show. then i ran into it again earlier this month at the latin gents show. second time i've spoken to the owner, though i doubt he remembered the first time out at santa ana the previous year.

anyway, at the gents show, he asked if i could take a picture of his truck, specifically from the side and above. best i could do was get up on a curb. he and his buds were sitting in chairs in the sweet spot for taking the shot from, due to the location and sun angle.

i've said before, that i shoot them as i see them, and i didn't feel like getting a bunch of guys to move out of the way, even after they asked for the shot. if they can't think of it themselves, i'm not going to bother to tell them. they did move a little bit out of the way, but i still wasn't going to be able to get the shot they asked for.

should trust the photographer's eye, and even then, they don't always get the perfect shot. because he asked to see other shots, i'm posting a few here. i've got a few more, but not liking them enough to post, which i could say about most any of the cars i shoot.

racy lacy

got things to do this evening, so quick post.

saw this tangiers club car "moded" at the showlows show at st hilary's last month. one of the few cars i shot that day. as always, couldn't get all the detail of the paint job, particularly on the roof. maybe i'll get a ladder for xmas, if i'm a good girl. what fun is that? and then i'd have to get a little red wagon to pull the thing along, or persuade a big guy to carry it for me... >:)

gold member

ok, i'll throw this one up, if only to make fun of it, and because its the only picture i had ready to post.

ya, its a custom hot rod by hinkle's hot rods. but shit, too much blingy goldness. i was looking for the crystal chandelier on the inside. i guess its just too much for my taste.

i did like the pinstriping on the center of the wheel. missing the usual nerf balls in the pipes, but there still seems to be some type of foam filler there anyway. 

i believe i've reached the point that i have to backup and remove old stuff from my hard drive...only ninety-two gb of space left. ya, sounds like a lot, but i could fill it easily by going to a few shows and posting up a dozen or two pictures.

i'll probably do that this weekend. maybe finally get around to upgrading my applications too. or, maybe i'll do the usual, and find any excuse to go out to a show...

new life

here's another of the few images i took from the showlow's st hilary show. don't really pay attention to low riders unless they have some exceptional, eye-catching something that compels me to stop.

there weren't too many at the show, at least that i noticed, being lost in a reverie of old chevys. i liked the artwork on this one, and that it was low enough i didn't curse the day for not bringing a ladder to get it. per their facebook, the club has reformed from a long ago disbanded group.

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so i took a week off with my better half, on a road trip from san diego to sausalito, with stops in between, celebrating our fifth anniversary. makes it difficult to post without a computer, and from an ipad or iphone, formatting is a bitch. i managed to only post once while on the road, and have since fixed what was screwy with the previous car post.

i did check for car shows, but only found one near us in san diego, and didn't want to drive over to oakland for another at the end of our trip. i'll post a few pictures from san diego soon.

taking the day off to sleep in and take care of laundry, etc., after the eight hour drive home yesterday. not looking forward to going back to the office tomorrow. it's always such a shock to get back into the swing of things, that we really only take time off once a year or so. i think they managed to get by without me, but hopefully they missed me anyway.

here's a shot from pacific grove, up by monterey, at sunset. nice, but needed some clouds or something. it was very windy, other than that, a pretty average sundown.

how much is too much?

i gotta think there is a point when one should stop. think michael jackson and his face nipping hobby, until his nose was practically falling off without the tape on it. what's the point of tweaking your face, if you're always covering it up with a mask?

i think there was a time, that this car would have been just fine. new upholstery, more than enough decorative vents on the hood, along with a chromed grille and wheels. that would have been nice and clean.

but it seems like a crazed pinstriper got set loose on this puppy, and went mask crazy with his mad airbrush skillz. and the glitter bomb. so much stuff globbed on, that there seems to be bubbles and creases on the paint. what causes that? a build up? almost like the decals we'd put on model airplanes as kids, and didn't squeeze the air out from underneath. you can kind of overlook it because the darker patterns distract the eyes, but still...wait a minute. is it just one of those car wraps, poorly applied, with some mad photoshop skillz killin it? that would be cheating, now wouldn't it?

could be worse. could be a honda with a big whale tail, all lowered in the front and all pimped out, windows tinted black. and an engine that sounds like the squirrels are going full tilt on the wheel that doubles as an engine. and big ass speakers in the trunk and sub woofers in the doors, rendering the passengers sterile with the sonic boom of the crap rap playing inside...oh, sorry. thinking of a car i passed on the street not so long ago. pfft.

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on another note, my better half finally got a call on wednesday, with the opportunity to get into LAX and shoot pictures of the shuttle, up close and personal, before they moved it out. ya, we know a guy...

any other day, he'd have been there, no question. but it was our fifth anniversary, and told the guy, on this day, he just couldn't. of course he didn't mention it, until it was too late to go. i would have told him to go ahead, or else take me with him. errr. figures he'll see it at the museum eventually, and we'd seen the one out at dulles before. guess he has his priorities straight. i think i'll keep him. happy anniversary d.

glitterati

dear mr. car show guy (was your name victor?),

i take pictures for my own fun and post some here on this little blog. really, what fun is it, if no one sees what you shot? spread the joy or something.

no, i don't post nekked pictures, even pictures of the wannabe models (they get in the way of the car), or blather on in raptures on the wonders of alcoholic beverages or drugs, because i don't drink or do drugs and wouldn't have any idea about that—except by observation. and it doesn't look like those people are really having that much fun while they are doing it, and especially the next morning.

so, have no fears of being associated or mentioned on this here bloggy thing. or any injury to the reputation of your school. good on ya.

sincerely,
kathy@tweakedpixels.com

_____ 

these two, i think, are in the dukes car club. mr and mrs? i don't know. both have been glitter bombed on the roof. i shot the turquoise one before.

here is an orange one to complement it, at the show at la habra high school. both are wonderful to look at, and a pain to photograph. i need a ladder...