what's up?

fair day

was my turn to run all over hell and back today.

decided to run down to the oc fair really quick, to see my pictures on the wall. had to go down to my office just to turn on my computer so i can do an unexpected/unplanned work from home day tomorrow, and the fair was on the way.

got there just before they opened the parking lot, so got a good, close parking spot near the entrance. then, since i already had my ticket, got to head straight to the entry gate, where i ended up being first in line, which meant i got to stand under the tent cover, out of the sun until official open time at eleven. you don't know how much i needed that.

they let us in at eleven on the dot. i stopped for a drink before heading to the visual arts building, where i had to sit outside until i finished it, since i wasn't going to trash an eight dollar drink.

found my pictures in the usual place, the far corner of the building. two cars, one ferris wheel...ferris wheel got an honorable mention, wouldn't you know. hope my better half can go see them sometime.

spent an hour looking at all the other art in the building and enjoying the air conditioning. so chill. the weather outside was actually pretty good, being relatively close to the ocean, a breeze blowing constantly, and some cloud cover as i headed back to my car.

another ten miles down the freeway, five minutes in the office, and the return trip to whittier, with three stops at various stores, with a brief shopping list at each. hot in whittier, and managed to miss whatever they were doing uptown and streets were open again.

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damn stunning paint job on this impala at the imperials show. usual internal whining about needing to drag a ladder with me sometime. i do love the back ends on these cars, sleek curves up to the arcs of the fins.

my teef

lovely car from bomb club's santa anita show. can i say again, i really liked the venue. do it again when it isn't so hot. makes me move quicker than i'd like, and i miss taking a lot of the detail shots, just trying to get to the shade. i should have shot that hood ornament, but i'm not seeing that i did. oh well.

been a tough, nay, tuff week. for my better half, more than myself. he thought he'd let me go to work at the office, while he stayed home and took care of his mother, and put in a full eight-hour day of work at the same time.

he's done it all week, but you can totally tell how tired he is, as well as hear it in his voice. hoping his sister comes back this week.

my work is ramping up for the next few weeks, so i don't know what my hours are going to be. apparently i've been grinding my teeth in my sleep, and now they are hurting a lot. stressing out or something. probably should go buy some that stuff you smear on babies gums when they are teething.

this evening's weather is very pleasant, and i really should go to a cruise nearby, but i'm going to stay put and help out here. heating back up this weekend, and i will stay put in front of the fan. but hey, come uptown on sunday, for the stupid family time they are planning—walk n roll—not a car show, but hey lets close a bunch of streets and ride bikes, listen to live bands, do a farmers market, face painting, etc. hope they have a heatstroke station. stupid. how to share your hot, tired, cranky, whiny kids with neighbors. not feeling it...can you tell?

tired, i should go to bed early, but my teeth hurt...

sparkly

really liked the paint job on this one. and since the owner came over and said hi, thought i'd post it.

talked to some guys that drove down from fresno. they said this heat was nothing to them. one of them chatted about my cameras, which sony models i'd used or liked and why. he said he's seeing more people interested in getting them. he knew the difference between full frame and cropped sensor, so not a novice.

forgot to ask him which car was his, or i'd post it if i shot it. maybe he'll read this and let me know.

three hours

i headed to hawaiian gardens early this morning. not too early, and not sure i'd get in anyway. had to be somewhere else after ten, so had my fingers crossed.

my usual parking over there was already full, so i had to find somewhere else in a nearby neighborhood to park. that put me closer to a different gate than i usually go through. pass the guys at the crosswalk, directing traffic, ask them where i could get in. they said it was kinda early. i said my time was limited. they pointed me to a gate with a security dude in front of it. i think the vendor gate.

asked the security guy if i could get in, that i only had a short time to shoot, etc. he says there are hardly any cars there yet. i can see a dozen from the gate. i should have been a smart ass and said is there one? then that's enough, but i just said there was enough for me. more will come.

anyway, he asked some other guy, and they just said sure, so wizard, i'm in.

moved as quickly as i could. it was already really hot, and on the grass, it was just humid.

got over here near the new life club cars, heading back to my exit. was shooting the fleetline, and the owner of this impala came over and chatted a bit.

loves his old car. talked about the sentimental value that gives him his happy place. old cars remind him of when he was younger, memories of his parents who are gone now.

he is still working on it, seems to never be finished, even after spending so much money on it. time, just takes time. looked ok to me.

i told him i love the classics. they just make me happy. i'm not beyond shooting other cars, so i took a couple of his car.

hope he sees this and likes it.

seemed like it was going to be a very good show. sorry i couldn't stay.

hoodies

a few hood ornaments from last weekend. quick and dirty, and straight from the camera. i should take more hoodies, like i used to. maybe i should just shoot something totally different. i need a change in attitude, maybe a change in subject matter. just don't see a vacation anytime soon.

have been otherwise busy and melting at home today. skipped mooneyes, though i was up at six-thirty this morning. took a walk around the block and through uptown, just to stretch my legs, but have otherwise been holed up in the house all day.

heard about a death in the family today. never met her, had alzheimers, went peacefully. still sucks, even when the closest people were expecting it, they were not prepared.

saw there were a couple of other tempting evening shows, but since i said i was only going to do one show a weekend, figured i'd go tomorrow. but now it's getting late, and it's still warm outside, and i just don't know. i gotta find the sunscreen. my arms are getting all freckly from the sun and all that vitamin d.

on the other hand, if roll-in isn't until eight in the morning, is it even worth getting there before the sun comes up? especially for shows that aren't out in the open; there's always that chance that the people at the gate just won't let me in. i'll pay the entry fee, just let me in early. i guess i could always look for some club that knows me, and try to bum a ride in their car, through the gate.

i don't have time to deal with that right now. either i shoot very early, before the heat, and before i have to be home to help with my better half's mom, or very late in the afternoon. if i can't get in, i'll just go home, and watch cars drive past the house or something. maybe i should set up my tripod at the stop sign and wait for the cars to drive through uptown.

hell. o.

so, i've started working at home on fridays, so my sister-in-law can have weekends at home. she's six hours drive away. boss is ok with it, at least for a while. at some point, might have to make some changes or fill out paperwork somewhere. really, i am working, but i am also helping care for my mother-in-law.

the worst part, and one of the most hated things about this house, is no air conditioning. now that we're firmly smack in the middle of summer, it really is hell living here during the day.

at least at this point, it still cools down a good bit at night, but fuck it during the day. there's no escape. i tried laying on the floor of the pantry, but it's still eighty-two degrees in there, so the coolness you initially feel, is gone quickly, once you acclimate.

we have fans all over the place, but they just push hot air around the room. tomorrow, i'm going to try hanging some frozen bottles of water in front of the fans, to see if they really will blow colder, as i've heard.

other than that, a cold shower, is really just tepid, but it is a bit cooler afterwards, for a little while.

thinking i'll probably only get out to one car show a weekend, very early, before mom wakes up. thinking i'm just going to start dumping water on my head when i'm out there and the sun comes up. i'll already be sweating profusely, and i don't really care how i look under a hat. either i'll wear a bathing suit underneath my clothes, or just wear a dark shirt...no reason to go full wet t-shirt on everyone.

nice fleetmaster from the anti-bomb show a couple of weeks ago. i just love the lines of fleetmasters and fleetlines. and the two-tone look, is really growing on me.

a smattering

just gonna throw some random pics up here from the other day. basically straight from the camera, one-offs, hand-held. perhaps i should post more of these random shots i take, to get a better feel of a show, usually from staging or roll-in, early before the people get there.

what i usually observe is controlled chaos. at santa anita, it seemed a bit more tightly set, so the horses' safety. don't want to spook them with loud music, sirens or engines.

up through the tunnel, came the gladiators, er, i mean the cars. hoping to win the three-hundred dollar top prize, but most just there for the fun of it.

i gotta go

one of the many things i hate about this old place we live in, is that there is only one bathroom. my sister-in-law just got in for a shower. i just woke up. i gotta pee something fierce. lol. not thinking about it while i type here. the sound of that running water tho...

one of the many things i like about this old chevy is that tattered old window shade. this looks like they just pulled it out of some grandpa's garage after fifty years. i like that it has dents and crusty windows, aged with perfection.

i'd be worried about the suitcase flying off on the freeway, but i'm sure that bracket is holding firmly against that back skirt--it ain't going anywhere.

and neither am i. staying in whittier for fourth of july, though there is a perfectly good fireworks show fairly close to my place in the oc. better half is here, the only reason i am too.

...gotta go...the shower just stopped...

at the races

bomb club finally got their day at the track, to make up for the rain cancellation from cinco de mayo.

i hadn't been to santa anita in years, and though i drove as far around the lot as i could when i arrived, until i came up to some cones blocking the way, i could not find any classic cars.

i was there early, but got out and walked past the empty 626 night market, down to where a security guard told me to go out, and follow the green line to gate six, further than i had gone before. basically, the opposite side of the park.

this time, i was able to keep going, since the cones had been moved. found the cars, parked up close. took a few pictures and a few videos before they said i could go down into the tunnel to the infield too.

was great to see all the cars in a new venue. same cars, different place. perfectly fine day, even if it did get hot and sunny fairly early.

i'll post a few, though i know most people don't bother reading this, and stick to the pretty pretty pictures on instagram, without the extraneous blather.

i almost didn't go either. had a backache all day, the day before. sat around and did nothing all day, and it still hurt. got up when the alarm went off, and it still hurt, but figured, maybe if i got up and moved around at a show, it would go away, and i'd be distracted. it worked, as usual. i did feel it, but was able to ignore it, and focus on the cars, and only had to worry about getting water, and taking breaks in the shade. thank goodness there was a cool breeze.

sultry

during the course of the two hours i was at the anti-bomb show, i felt welcomed, both personally and as a photographer. the people that know me, greeted me with hugs, the others were very friendly.

i, of course, was slowly dying from the heat, and bartering in my mind how long i could stay, vs how red i was willing to let my skin get. top it off with a hot flash while standing in the shade, and an instant slick of sweat on my face, and that feeling of that one drip sliding down my spine, pretty much sealed the deal, and had me considering buying an ice cream from the little ice cream cart vendor.

i wanted an ice cream sandwich, but those get too messy with the chocolate on the fingers, so then decided on a bomb pop. nope, he didn't have the one i wanted, so passed on the ice cream.

was heading over to the hosts' door, where everyone seemed to be hanging out, to buy a bottle of water, when my friend from the veteranos offered me one. that guy saves me every time. gotta pay him back with a case and a print of his car one of these days.

this car is simple and clean. i just like the angle in this shot, not too distorted by the lens.