mary poppins

been another busy week. my son graduated law school. has been sort of lost since he took his last final, with nothing to do. not a problem. now for two months of studying for the bar. then the waiting begins.

work busy again too. i have deadlines that are forcing me to work a day or two over this holiday weekend. better half, same story. oh well.

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posting these, only because the owner chatted and seemed interested in seeing pics of his car.

these cars are almost twins; same year, same paint, same details. turns out the owner of the car on the left built both of them. the only difference i'm seeing is that the car on the left has a chrome spare wheel cover and the other matches the car.

they're practically perfect in every way. just close the hood and slam down the trunk next time.

eight-track

went to the wingfest this past weekend, hoping for a lot full of impalas. got there close to nine, not too early, but before official start time, hoping for fewer people in the shots too.

ran into a fellow flickr friend, rudy, who knew me by name, and after getting his name, recognized him again. last saw him a couple of years ago at the majestics new year's show.

met another photographer, who said he had driven in from indio. he admired my rollie bag, and i marveled at all the camera gear he was carrying around, slung about his shoulders and waist.

and also victor, who i'd seen the day before at the la mirada show. he gave me a heads up on the show, and also mentioned one out at santa anita, if i needed more cars to round out my weekend.

there were only a few cars there. fine. i'll shoot them. more cars trickled in. gave them the benefit of the doubt, that people were at church or nursing hangovers. 

hoods and trunks started being popped open. <sigh> ignoring my usual dislike of shooting them that way, i just shrugged and rolled with it. 

before i left, there was a reasonable number of cars, but with lots of space for more. wished the cars that were there had moved to allow for more space between cars, since it seemed available. oh well, shoot ‘em as you find ‘em.

this car was over toward the back corner. i was looking at it, wishing the trunk was closed. few people were around it at the time, and i liked the trees, clouds, and the broiler sign framing it out.

owner was sitting there with his better half. he said i should look inside...check out the eight-track player...asked if i knew what one was. said a lot of people don't know what they are anymore, and hoped i didn't take the fact that i knew what it was in the wrong way. no worries. we're all getting older.

haven't seen one since my dad sold off his old cadillac...in the eighties...and his crap music collection came and went with the car. 

told me about how he had found it online, and also had some recorder, if i understood, that he could make his own cartridges of music.

well, it made him happy. rock on.

duck walk

i took a few shots of this bel air, then moved across the aisle to shoot a chevy delray. i was kneeling down, pulling my other camera out of the bag, when i look over and see this mallard and his girl walking toward me.

weird to see walking thru a car show, and they did not seem at all afraid, so i took a few shots of them too, and they walked right next to me. didn't realize they got to participate in the relay as well.

relay for life

made it out to la mirada today. american cancer society's relay for life and car "exhibit." it was mostly overcast, which makes for really good pictures without harsh shadows.

duke's car club chapters from everywhere were the hosts, so there were lots of chevys to keep me happy, and they have lots of friends. heard about the show from a whittier guy we met at chicano park last month.

saw lots of cars and people i haven't seen in a while. took lots of pictures.

sun peeked out momentarily, then went away and then unexpectedly, it started to sprinkle. it wasn't in the forecast, but you know what i think about weathermen...they're always wrong. my camera is mostly ok with a little rain, but the lens not so much.

when it started getting a little more persistent, i had to go over to a nearby building with an overhang. i waited about half an hour, hoping it would clear up.

owner of this car happened to be walking into the building, i suppose to "wash his hands" and mentioned that i had taken pictures of his car and would be interested in seeing some pictures of it. i liked this shot best. this side view is also ok, i suppose.

chocolate silk

another from chicano park. i'm sort of on the fence when it comes to cars painted in this matte finish. some of them just look meh, and then others really stand out. 

this one stands out. sort of sedate, with subtle pinstriping. this one just sort of looks good enough to eat.

taxi

saw this taxi recently, when it drove past the window. i usually hear cars before i see them, and know to stand up and take a peek. some days i've seen a dozen old cars of all types drive by, which sends me for a walk uptown to see what's going on...where are they going?

anyway, as i was saying...i happened to be watching a hummingbird that sometimes sits on a tree outside, and saw this car drive past. not quite as fast as the ice cream truck...how the heck are kids supposed to catch that guy?

i've never seen the taxi before. told my better half to look out the front window, but he was deep in conversation with his mom, and didn't quite hear me. it was gone by the time he figured out what i said.

few days later, here it was at founder's day. owner was a youngish guy. i want to say he was telling the group around him he was recently home from the military, but i might be remembering another group of guys and another car.

he seemed nice. i think he was telling everyone about the guys that helped get the car done. looks nice.

milestone

was my birthday yesterday. low-key, cause that's the way i like it. rained...which i love, so i didn't mind that one bit. had dinner with my son and my parents, so that worked out great. got back home just before my better half was getting into bed, having given up on me coming home for the night.

so my thoughts on birthdays: don't care anymore. even if it is a "milestone" in one's life. just a number, so statisticians can keep a tally on life expectancy. i thanked my mom for, you know, squeezing me out...it should be more of a celebration of the one who did all the work that day, right?

now that i've had my kids, and no sign of grandkids anytime soon, save the hairy, four-legged one that sheds a lot, i just see things as ways to fill time until the game's over. and what's with the time-warp? time seems to go by so much quicker the older i get, yet i move so much slower. except when i'm at work; then the day just seems to go on forever.

i remember when summer used to take forever to get here. now all i do is work, and with no real seasons to speak of in this state, if i didn't have a calendar, i wouldn't know the difference. my office cube looks out over the freeway. all looks the same, every day.

so, i fill my free time with car shows. and this is the place to be for those, right? nuff said. birthday done for another year.

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wandered up on the grass in the main section of chicano park, and found these latin bombas cars under the trees.

this one stood out, mostly because it was red, so it just "popped" from the green background. love the chrome and the headlights on the master deluxes. and the evolution of the hood ornaments with each year.

bright

it's late. i'll have to edit it this later, but wanted to post something. 

i think this should do nicely.

chop chop

looks fast just sitting still, no?

not quite sure why it was sitting all alone in this parking lot, here in chino, on the edge of a very big car show, but i took full advantage of it. no people, nicely framed by the trees, i like this shot the best.

i did notice later on, that other cars moved in next to it, so i just got lucky, i guess.

golden slumbers

got there relatively late this time. had to stop at the market to have breakfast, since we pretty much skipped dinner, and i was just gonna faint if i didn't eat.

we decided to start at the back of the park this year, then move to the street, before the crowds showed up.

i liked this plymouth, just sitting there glowing in the middle of the lawn. stupidly, i didn't take any shots of the hood ornament, and i love hood ornaments. oh well. next time.

i suspect there's some custom stuff on the car, since i don't think plymouths sat like this back in the day.