to hell and back

i took my mom to a car show a few weeks ago. with all the beautiful shiny cars all around, she asked why i bothered to shoot stuff like this. if you can have steak every day, every once in a while, you still just want a hamburger.

can't tell me this doesn't have some character, can you? it doesn't look totally, naturally weathered; they're probably working on it at a very early stage, but still shows a life lived. that these old cars are still around in whatever condition is a statement in itself. it may be a POS, but it's still an interesting one to look at.

ya, i cropped it...had the damn hood open. :)

thumbs down, uptown

i had already been warned that the whittier uptown show was going to be different this year. i'm not saying there weren't some nice cars there, because there were. i'm saying, the change was not good. they decided to segregate the show this year: today would be hot rods and muscle cars; next may would be the bombs and low riders. it almost felt gutted without the quantity, quality, and enthusiasm of past shows. what were they thinking?

happily, in a side lot, a group of bombs, low riders and the like, had staked out the lot the night before, and set up there, along with a tent advertising the show next may. while i do have more affection for these types of cars, a few had still managed to find their way in, out on the main street. while there were not so many cars, they had still blocked off just as much space as past years. you'd think they'd tell the guys to space the cars out...a lot. they still clustered them toward the center stage and judges' area, i suppose. the crowd was not so rowdy. the cops didn't notice the guys drinking beer out of the back of their van disguised in red plastic cups. there were a several whole blocks of closed, empty streets.

now i wonder if so many, of what they've determined to be the rowdy element, will want to come on down next may, after being so excluded. i'd be kinda pissed if i were them.

anyway, that's my review. a big pffft to the bigwigs in whittier, you've made a great show kinda boring.

-------

this one was over in the bomb lot. only a handful of cars back there, but the kind that i like. the owner kindly dropped the hood for the shot. i'm not sure that the guy that specifically asked for a shot of this car was just one of the working car show shlubs, or one of the organizers of the show. if an organizer, i've probably not made him happy by my review, but it's just my opinion, dude. and what do i know about cars anyway, aside from how to shoot them with my little camera here.

grape ape

these guys were parked off on the end at enderle last week. i think the owners and a couple of other people were chatting about paint and body and other customization, but in the background of my mind it all sounded like charlie brown's teachers: "wha wha wha whaaa wha wha."

it was something different. don't think i've had the pleasure of catching a hudson that looks like this. all the curvy goodness is just fun for my eyes. not too flamboyant, and even in a simple monotone, i like it a lot.

of course that there mercury ain't bad neither. guess i'll have to post the close up of that one sometime too. polished to a shine on the hood of infinite darkness.

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.

hot hot hot

yup, it's been warm lately. it's july after all, but it's not as hot as it should be. i expect the fall will be stiflingly warm to make up for the mild summer here.

another from the show in the anaheim promenade. between the tall buildings, the sun did not hit too badly or completely. of the few pictures i took, only one car wasn't half shade/half sun...but it's not this one.

i have a residual kid lust for corvettes. i always wanted one, as i think many kids did. and as i mentioned before, when i had the chance to get one (albeit a late '80s model), i passed on it...didn't think i could afford the insurance and gas at the time.

but i like this one. i would have it. alas, i can only have it here, in my digital collection. i'll park it right here, at the top for now. ain't it pretty? come on prince, sing it...

raider nation

i've seen this car several times over the past year and a half. i've tried shooting it from various angles, in different lighting conditions, in different locations depending on where they've parked. i've never really been satisfied with the location or the lighting, but this one is ok. i need to bring a ladder to get a better angle on the artwork on the front here, but i already pull too much around with me...i'd need a little red wagon to carry more.

not only is it a great car, it has some interesting, intricate airbrushing going on front and back, all in black and white, and just a hint of gold on the helmet. i'm taking a wild ass guess they like the raiders.

baby got back

so my buddy ernie (i think that's his name) told me about this show over in paramount that they moved to mondays a few weeks ago. being that i only knew about one other monday show, and had nothing better to do, i drove on by.

he gave me a general idea of the cross streets, but i'm not familiar with the area, so it took me a few turns to find it, about a block down from where he told me. as is typical, i went straight from work, so shows are usually still pretty light on carage. depending on what's arriving as i whip through the cars that are there, and how hot and sweaty i feel, i don't stay long. strange really, after taking the time to drive all the way there, but the heat just makes me want to melt.

so, fortunately, this wonderful impala was already there, and was the first car i shot on this afternoon. actually took several, stalling to see what else would drive in. it was pretty warm, and only shot a few other cars before calling it a day.

i suppose i could go into the establishment and eat and cool off, but that's always a pain with the camera gear with me...hard to pull the bag and balance a tray of food and a coke.

shake your pom poms

so it's fourth of july. here's a big red one for you. off to my bro's house for a block party. he's had a busy couple of weeks in the news, but that's another story.

found this on my trip to washington a few weeks ago. i'm not sure why, but pom poms in the back window seem to be popular there. not the school colors, but matching the car. i guess it evokes the time of the car? kinda lame to me, but i'm not from the 50s. eh, i didn't like cheerleaders in my own time. < i've edited myself a bit, or there'd be a few too many potty words here. i'm in a mood...>

really nice car. just wish some of these guys would actually close the trunk, not just shut them down.

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?

don't just stand there

so often people just wander through a shot, completely oblivious, like the lady looking in the window. fine. but that dude in the doorway saw me shooting this car, and still came out of the restaurant several times and just stood there looking around.

congrats, i didn't rub you out, and now you're infamous. not richard infamous; just a minor irritation.

no doubt he knew that this car was a centerpiece for the show. it was depicted on the show's t-shirt this year. thus aside from being spectacular, was going to draw attention to the location.

perhaps the dude works there, so he couldn't very well go out and check out the cars, and was stuck seeing the show which was so close, yet so far.