an original

took the better half to the showlow's fifth anniversary show in pico rivera yesterday. pretty good turnout. more than last year; not as much as the year before that. perfect weather. overcast that didn't burn off until after noon, and it didn't get too hot. gotta love that.

was shooting pictures of an acquaintance's car, when a couple of his buddies came over to say hello, and tell me they'd heard about me, and could i shoot their cars too.

ya, i'd already shot one of this car before they had walked over, but i went back and shot a couple more. i liked these better anyway.

i'll post the other guy's car shortly. i think i'll be too busy at work the next couple of days to get to others.

voodoo child

so i drove my tired butt over to legg lake today. i had been searching online for something else last month when the flyer for the los boulevardos show popped up. i went there for one before, so expected the same variety of cars to show up.

i bought a new wide angle lens, that my better half had recommended. supposed to be better, sharper than the one i've used for the last four or five years. i've taken it out for a couple of days now. still testing it out, so not loving it yet. gotta find the setting that looks best for what i do.

so, in homage to the hosts of the show, here's one of their cars. clean and low, i liked the small details, the light use of decorative pinstripes, and even the dingle balls. i guess the white furry dashboard is interesting enough, but i can only imagine how dusty it must get and the difficulty keeping it show-worthy clean.

thinking about a couple of shows tomorrow, assuming the weathermen are incorrect as always, and the predicted rain will either not happen, or will wait for monday drive time. oh joy.

goldie but goodie

i used to go to the broiler most every wednesday for a couple of years. and then my office moved farther south, and it made the drive too difficult with traffic to get there so often.

and when i do get there, most often there are only the regulars there, or some low rider clubs, or simply not much.

now the back lot has the back exit closed off and it's dark back there. and there's just a different vibe with the people that are there.

probably all in my head. they never know what to think about me anyway.

i just felt like getting out and shooting some pics, so endured the traffic last month, and drove on up there. it was kinda busy up at the very front. saw a few people i kinda know and said hi.

saw this truck drive in and park while i was shooting some other stuff. saw that the hood had gone up and the owner was showing off the engine to someone. thought i wouldn't be taking a picture of it at that point, and went back to whatever it was i was doing.

by the time i considered it again, the hood was down and no one was around. so luckily i got a few shots.

clean truck, interesting details. the truck bed is all padded, and i doubt very useful for carrying anything. i took a shot of that, but it's late and i don't have it ready to post...maybe i'll add it later.

wasn't daylight savings time yet, so it got dark early. the truck was golden, but around back under the fluorescents, it kinda goes green. so the weird, not stock tail lights look a little off.

ok, i'm done for now. my legs hurt from sitting all day at work. waiting for the weekend, hoping to get to a couple of shows, though it would be more fun if my better half could go. he's hoping he can join me next month at chicano park...hoping his sister can stay with his mom that weekend.

blurtard

since my better half hasn't bothered to post this one yet, i'll go ahead and put it up.

owners were nice enough to me, offered to let me get in and shoot some pictures of it. there was a really old guy, who told the other guy "there's a photographer." and the other guy was a really large guy.

better half had a different experience. paraphrasing what he told me, and you really need to hear him tell the story, with all the affectation and vocal interpretation:

he'd just set up his tripod and mounted the camera. the big guy that owns the car comes up behind him and informs my better half, "that he has long hair, and that his long hair is long, like a woman's hair, and that, people may think he is a woman. a big woman. with long hair. and that he doesn't mean to offend, but in case you didn't notice, your hair is really long."

and my better half stared at him.

and the guy went on to tell him some other stuff, mostly repeating the previous information, and even tried to touch my better half's hair in order to show him that it was long. like a woman's.

at some point, my better half had enough, and offered to let the guy go and not offend some other people, as there were plenty of other people waiting to not be offended.

it distracted him from what he was doing, and he says his pictures of it are crap, because he'd forgotten to set it to the proper f-stop. blurry, with the big blurry guy in the frame.

so ya, i kinda ignored the big guy, said uh-huh a lot, and got the shots. not really a great fan of the car, just the story that went with it. too over the top, too much glitter, just too much too much, it distracts from the car, and renders it fugly. my opinion, but i don't mean to offend...

sunny with a chance of rain

supposed to rain at the end of the week. i think the weather guys are mostly just getting paid to guess. they always seem to be wrong on their predictions.

i bought a new umbrella that has a handle like a samuri sword, that fits in a case that slings on your shoulder. i've been waiting a month to use it. the couple of days i carried it when they predicted rain before, i got a lot of double-takes by the security guys in the office. so that's fun.

so i'm gonna put off washing the car. again. well, i basically don't bother until i really can't stand it. or until i take it in for an oil change, and they do a free car wash.

----

found this neon orange ford in an upper lot at the show. so early, no other cars were around it. i like the contrast of the orange and the blue sky. and that the hood was down. bonus.

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? 

  

  

up and coming

not much to say today, and it's late.

one from dia de los muertos show here in whittier. usually pass these kind of cars by, but the little blue bottle caught my eye. gives it that extra "get up" and go i guess.

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

feeling old

i think i can almost see my mom in the mirror. eh, probably just the invite for another high school reunion i got the other day. thinking about skipping it. no one will miss me anyway. i can spend that money on a date out with my better half instead and have more fun.

i'm tired. wasn't as busily stressed at work today. short reprieve before another storm there. they're rethinking one of my projects and will combine it with another, so it's just a bit delayed is all. no worries, there's another rush job coming in tomorrow.

thinking about going to the broiler on wednesday. wonder if it will be worth the drive? i know i'm getting burnt out at work, when all i can do is count down the days until the next weekend before the weekend is over.

i suppose we're late deciding on doing a vacation this year, so i don't have that to look forward to yet. i do get to go to vegas in september, but by myself, and i don't gamble, drink or smoke, so what do i do? same as last time i went...look up some car shows, though i probably will only stop at the one on the way home. hate to lose my parking place once i'm in the garage.

i get to take care of my son's dog while he goes off to england to study law for a month. i guess i can pretend that's a vacation, though it will force me to cut back on going to most car shows until he gets home.

i will definitely make an exception and go to the san fernando high school show at the end of july though. didn't even get through half the cars there before we had to leave last year. too hot for my better half's nephew.

all right. i'm just rambling now, so i guess i'll call it a night. what a geez.

lone wolf

i suppose i'm up this late because i slept late this morning. i mean until almost noon. and i hardly ever do that, at least later than nine-thirty. guess i needed it.

so i missed the show in yorba linda. but my mom's foot doctor likes taking pictures of stuff like cars, and happened to have gone to the show and already posted stuff. i guess i didn't really miss anything, as i haven't seen much in his pics that i would have taken a picture of.

went to ruby's yesterday. still not as busy as last year, but there were more varied cars there, which i haven't seen before, or in a while. i've seen this one before, but not at ruby's. pretty sure it belongs to the wolves car club. not quite sure why he wasn't parked over with the rest of the pack, except maybe he got there late.

hey steve, liked your bike set up. had all his camera gear in the baskets on his bike, and just cruised up and down the aisles until he saw something he liked, then got up and set up his tripod. easier than carrying that stuff around. he said its got a motor on it too, for when he's too tired to pedal. that's convenient.

got eddie murphy's "raw" playing while i type this. haven't watched this since i was in high school. remember when he used to be funny...?