fine dining

we walked uptown, to the dia de los muertos show this morning just after six. later than we planned, but didn't sleep well last night, and heard the alarm ten minutes late.

there was already a long line of cars waiting to be let in. seemed to be a bit of a disconnect or disorganization on the part of the people letting the cars in. letting them sit too long, cars started overheating, even very early in the day. it didn't stay cool very long. vendors seemed to be showing up relatively late for this type of show as well.

this show has really grown, when i look at pictures from the first year we went out, in 2011, only had maybe ten cars. each year, more. this year really blew the last couple out of the water. so many cars. why did it have to be such a hot day?

anyway, took lots of pictures. not as many as i would have liked. had to keep stopping for water breaks. better half had enough of the heat after breakfast, around nine. he followed me around for a little while, then he walked back home. on call for work again, so he needed to cool off, just in case. i probably sweated off my suntan lotion within the first couple of hours, so by the time i left around elevenish, i was a bit pink.

i looked more hideous than normal, but expected it to be hot, and decided to not give a rat's ass about how i looked. been so long since i worried about makeup and dressing to impress, i just couldn't imagine how the women dressed for the day of the dead kept the makeup from sliding off their faces. never was much for wearing makeup anyway.

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talked to several people, and i promised to post their cars, if i got a good shot. so if they happen to be looking for them. give me a few days—i'm out of town a lot, and away from my computer. not doing them in any particular order, so don't get your panties in a twist.

liked this buick, and would have shot it again before i headed home, after the sun really hit it, but there were too many people around by then. 

i think the owner was inside the restaurant, and saw me shooting the car from the window. he came out to ask about prints. i do hope they knew he was coming right back, not doing a dine and dash.

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hmm. down to one more show on my list for the year. heard about one in canoga park early november, but didn't get the details.

thanks to the dead sleds for the flyer, already had the show on my list...sorry we missed your anniversary show.

special

life is speeding up lately. yes, i know i missed the gatos show yesterday. rare day that my better half could get a few hours out of the house, and he wanted to go to the fair to see my pictures hanging on the wall. matter of priorities sometimes.

we had fun, almost like a date. spent a lot of time talking about nothing and everything. walked through the buildings of schlocky stuff for sale, looked at the crafts, watched the mariachi and pacific islanders dance shows. weather was mostly good, so we stayed later than we had intended. his mom was fine—he called her twice—and told him to stop worrying and enjoy the time out.

next, going to speed through the week at work, even when a work week feels like it drags on forever. next weekend, a college graduation to attend, followed by a drive out to vegas. whittier car show coming up when i get back, then something else i can't even remember right now, then pick up the pictures from the fair... blah blah blah. stop thinking about things, and just do them. life happens. just one big check list...

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went to the sultans show this morning. perfect weather for pictures, got my favorite parking space, very close by. got there about six-thirty, and there were some cars, stuff rolling in. watched yet another ballet of parking the cars. it's a sort of choreography between the club members on what cars should go where. some are more organized, with walkie talkies, others just yell across the field, over the revving engines.

park isn't huge, so these guys just yell. but they do pack them in well. the park was filled, except for fire lanes. i made the outer circuit to start with, to stay out of the way of the moving cars, and to keep them out of my shots.

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starting with this car. belongs to a retired gentleman, who i think said he'd owned it for thirty-eight years. i've seen it around before, shot it before, but had never talked to the owner. i liked the paint combination, and the back windows are kind of different. the hood had been up, so i had decided to just shoot the back end. he offered to close the hood, so i offered to take a picture or two. so here's a few shots for him.

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briefly considered going to mariachi plaza, and decided i didn't have the energy. looking forward to seeing everyone else's pictures of all the cars i wished i'd been there to shoot.

rub it, rub it

gratuitous post here. of all the cars that reine has, this one isn't my favorite.

it's hard to get over your first love, but i go ahead and shoot all his new babes when i see them. he is keeping them on the other side of the 605 this year, so i don't get to see them or him very often.

silly rule, but whatever works for him. can't wait to see the flavor of the month if he shows up at the uptown show this august, breaking his own rule.

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now i get to do some work for work, when i would rather be out at a car show, under this perfect overcast for pictures. :(

special

saw this buick on the edge of the grass, by some vendor booths, in chino. didn't remember seeing another one, so set up to take a shot of it.

owner turned out to be one of the dead sled guys. i think he said he recently bought this car. told him i didn't think this would be considered a sled-type car. what do i know.

had a cracked window, which i only noticed when the owner started talking with some other guy about getting new glass for it. that guy said he could get the glass, but that he doesn't do installation. what's up with that?

i like the front chrome on this.

senator's car

saw this buick at pomona. wanted to take a picture from the other side, but a pop up tent was opposite, along with a group of dudes, and a couple of empty wheelchairs. a guy came over and started telling me all about this car. 

said back in the day, senators used this model. it has two spare tires, one on each side, instead of the standard one. i forget how many six figures he claimed it was worth. and to boot, it wasn't even his car—he was sitting under the pop up.

i waited a bit, and eventually the dudes moved on or out of the way. pretty sure i've seen this one before. whatever; today is another day.

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sitting here looking out the window; grand nationals show going on this weekend, and i expect there may be a few cars cruising uptown. time for dinner. might just go for a little walk.

goddess

hood ornaments. love'em.

this one is apparently known as a flying goddess. seems more like a nekked superwoman.

something or other

i think it's a customized buick. or a misshapen watermelon. i dunno. its all curvy, and i've never seen another one, unless it was the same one, which is entirely possible, since i get to so many shows with all the same cars, but let me put an end to this run-on sentence here. <breathe>

caught it waiting in line to get in to the uptown whittier show back in august. the later the organizers are getting organized, the more time i have to shoot the sitting ducks in staging. so yay for the disorganizers! sucks for the people waiting. didn't last so long this year, but still got quite a few ducks that day.

chopped liver

saw this and thought, "wtf?" it is interesting. the seat must be down on the floor to drive it, no?

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got my test results back. they found nothing, but there is something going on. i can opt for a second opinion, someone else who will ask for more tests, or just wait and see. i think i'll wait a bit. i'm really tired of the vampires taking my blood every few months anyway.

buick

this one is interesting. guessing a '38 buick. the color combo really caught my eye. not sure the modern rims are really working, but they do match the color scheme.

saw it at the viejitos ela show at the broiler in august. such a good show. way too hot. wish there were more shows about this time of year, before the real possibility of rain, but sunny, cool and puffy clouds. way more tolerable.

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got my car serviced yesterday, and it was sprinkling rain here and there, so skipped a show that may or may not have happened because of the weather. that, and once i got back home, didn't want to go back out, which is typical.

feeling like taking pictures today, but looking at the calendar, not much going on except small local shows. pretty much what i like best...fewer people in my way.

thinking of stopping by a monthly show in la habra, to see if it's bombs or hot rods. if hot rods or muscle cars, will probably just continue on by and get some shopping done. otherwise, there's always lakewood on a sunday afternoon — never know what will show up, but there's a costco there too.

anyone know if there's a show at the broiler this friday? i've heard about it, but haven't been.

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a real hell of a month coming up health-wise. really hating getting stuck with needles. not looking forward to these tests, but want answers more, so i'll just practice bursts of profanities at work to prepare.

in your face

“Since I’m inarticulate, I express myself with images.”
- Helen Levitt

saw this quote on some photography blog somewhere. i think it fits me pretty well too. i can show you what i saw and loved better with a picture, rather than trying to tell you about it.

ask my brother what i thought about our trip to london six years ago. he was so unsure if i had fun, he called my better half to ask if i said anything. of course, i hadn't said much at the time more than, "it was ok." but i took a ton of pictures.

and now if i see stuff about london on tv, its, "oh, i saw that."

bigger wallflower would be hard to find.

quite the opposite of this buick. all that chrome coming at you. big bullets. lots of teeth in that smile. and a shine you could use as a mirror. even in the shade.