watermelon ding

saw this truck a couple of weeks ago at the broiler. it's pretty interesting. the patterns and the paint give this otherwise plain jane truck some attitude. is it more bad ass with that dent on the front bumper? that must have been a pisser of a day.

________

went to the broiler this evening. not really much going on. a lot of the same cars i've shot before. didn't stay long. i blame it on the full moon.

did get irritated by some granny with a plain truck. i was in the midst of doing a set of exposures, when she, apparently the owner, decided to open the door and sit in the truck. then lean out the window and ask what i was doing with the pictures. told her i put them on my blog if i like the shot.

she stared at me. then, the got out of the truck, leaving the door open, to go chat with her buds behind the truck. buttholio. eh. was a throw away shot anyway. she either was being obtuse, or was just passive aggressive enough to not tell me she'd prefer i didn't shoot it.

i could make an ok shot of the frames she didn't eff up, but i'd just end up ripping her as richard the second. best leave her to her anonimity, and delegate her truck to the non-existent category in my eyes. blithering idiot.

jade

hey look what i found in my files. was preparing another image from this night's shooting, and noticed this beauty standing out from the darkness, like a gem.

it was parked next to a '55 truck, which was reflected in the door, when another car's headlights hit this truck during my exposures. that one is a good shot too, just not as colorful only because it's beige.

i like how i caught the sunset rainbow as well. really pops when you can get that too, don't you think?

xmas spirit

i'd intended to go to a couple of shows today. made it only to this one at the santa ana elks club. was going to also hit up the john force show, but as i approached the freeway ramp, the radio was reporting a big truck spin out up the highway and a motorcycle cop had just got on the freeway and began the zigzag pattern...didn't feel like driving the surface streets out there, so i skipped it. maybe next year. i guess i'll peek at dave lindsay's pics when he posts them.

anyway, as soon as i walked into the lot, i met up with danny, from one of the clubs at last week's show. he's interested in shots of his club's cars, several of which were there. i'll see if i like any of them another day.

the guy that belongs with this truck also asked if i could take a picture of it. said it was the first time he'd had it out since his dad died. well, i would have even if he hadn't asked. it's a pretty clean ride.

interesting zebra stripey airbrushing pattern and big red bow on the front. might have liked it better if it wasn't parked next to a white iron fence, which reflects on the paint and just confuses the eye with the competing zebra pattern.

i think it was a member of one of the host clubs for the show. hope he sees this. i threw a card on the seat.

give thanks

ya, i know it's not vintage. but it was at the ruby's car show. thanksgiving in a couple of days, so i just thought it would be fitting to show the fire department some love too.

not quite sure what station this puppy comes from, but it happened to be out on the edge of the show, with no fire boys around, so i took a shot. don't know why i don't shoot them when i see them, except i'm shy, and well, i just don't.

the boys in the big red trucks are usually the first to show up when you have an emergency, so give'em a big thank you next time you see them.

and if you asked my better half about his favorite story of fire boys and me, he'd tell you the one about a lady apparently having a heart attack at an in-n-out burger. all those guys there to help looked they could have jumped off one of those calendars; well, except for that last guy that came in...meh. anyway, he'd say that i would've thrown myself on the floor and whine about a pain in my chest too...must be confusing me with his cousin–she's the one who actually used to go out with those guys.

what happens in vegas...

geez i'm tired. wanted to post something though. this good enough?

i was taking a picture of another car when i heard this one pull up behind me. easy enough to just do a 180 and i'm set to take another picture, thank you very much.

altarnative view

here's another showlows car from the dia de los muertos. one of two altars set up in the back of their trucks. interesting to look at and very colorful.

some work's been done to this truck since this shot. kinda wondering what's planned for it. it's all sanded down.

is it fair?

there are old things we should keep around. like this old truck. a new coat of paint, shiny chrome, new wheels, and you have a keeper. it has value to the owner, and all us poor plebes can only admire from afar and appreciate the hard work. yep this one got put almost in the center intersection of the whittier uptown car show this year.

feeling philosophical tonight. i have a house filled with boxes of stuff from an earlier life. boxes of memories, toys, junk. all have value to me, or i would have gotten rid of them long ago. i used to have it all in storage, then decided i didn't want to pay the storage fees anymore. thought it would be easier to go through it all if i actually had it around...

thing is, i think i'm ready to let go of some of the stuff. i'm sick of looking at the boxes. if i can find someone to cart off a lightly used electric clothes dryer from my garage, i could move some of said stuff out there, so it can play with the other boxes out there, out of sight, out of mind...except everytime i park my car there.

if i had the time, i'd go through the boxes and filter out the old photos, and absolutely sentimental stuff to keep forever, then decide what to do with the rest of it. i should have a garage sale, but i hate them, especially since the last time i had one, some bunghole actually paid for my junk with a counterfeit $20. thanks for nuthin.

it is a lot easier to just shove the stuff in the corners and ignore it, but i'm getting to the point where i don't want to think about them anymore. i suspect this is why i got custody of all this stuff, so that i would have to face it one day. i think he would have just thrown it all away and be done with it. 

i could post stuff on ebay, or take it to goodwill, but that would take time, which i don't have a lot of lately. i'd like to clean the slate, so to speak. someone could make use of it. i've gone through it all a few times over the years, but this last bit is just hard to let go of.

easier to play with my pictures, go to a car show, go to work, watch netflix, travel, do almost anything than to deal with the past. 

pug

this was a different truck. don't see too many of these around, though i did find other pics of this one on the web at other shows. apparently its a coe or cab over engine model, hence the shortened front end. but, to me, it reminds me of those purebred dogs or cats that look like they've run into a wall and have no nose. at least in a monster like this, you'd feel safer than driving in one of those "smart" cars; in an accident, i'd place my money on this one and still being able to walk.

the owner was a nice guy too. very happy to let you have a good look around the thing. thanks for moving out of the way, but i don't remember the guy standing next to me, if you can see me in the bumper. i think he owned the red muscle car you see reflected on the side. i didn't take any pictures of his car. psst. dude, close your hood – maybe i'd think about it.

nice attitude, babe

i think i saw this one at ruby's last time i was there. here it sits in the parking lot of old world. kinda cool with the wall•e engine thing and weird finish paint job.

my favorite parts, though are the unused hood lock painted to give you the bird – F.U. too; and the metal rooster on the dashboard. wait for it, wait for it...no, i'm not going there, i'll be good for a change, and not say something about how big (or small) it might be. love the pinstriping on the door too.

i think the owner was sitting opposite the car, and would occasionally make the hydraulics squeak a bit. thanks for not bouncing it while i was taking my shots.

got the blues

well, it's over 100° today, here in sunny, lovely cali. got up early and headed over to the chino air museum, where they were doing their monthly presentation. this month was on russian planes, followed by a flight of a yak-3, with a MiG-15 sitting by the hangar. if you haven't been to the museum, you can get up close the planes, even so far as touch them, and a good majority of them are still flown, as evidenced by the oil pans underneath those. use it or lose it.

why bring up airplanes on this blog? back to the point about the weather. too damn hot. keeps me away from the middle of the day / early evening car shows. really tires me out and gives me a headache. on the other hand, it's good i've got a lot of pictures in my little archive here to finally get around to tweaking. so many to choose from. not a bad thing.

this truck has been taunting me since last february. there was a baseball fundraiser over at whittier high school, with many fine cars inside. but this baby was outside, not participating in the show. was it a tease, or was the owner just too cheap to pay the participation fee? whatever.

it was a hot day back in february too, i might add. anyway, i've played with this picture several times. my camera threw a yellowish cast over it, in spite of my white balance doohickey. i can't quite seem to get it all out, as i'd prefer, but i still like the truck, so i've thrown in the towel on it, and i'm calling it a day. does it look washed out to you, or is it just my monitor misbehaving again?