this car is whittier. i see it a lot, mostly parked down by the cigar bar. they call the owner the "mayor of whittier." i don't know the story, but he does seem to know everybody, at least everyone in car culture.
it's just a nice car. he tweaks it a little bit here and there. last time i talked to him, he said he wasn't planning on doing much more to it. takes a good man to know when to stop; enough is enough. seems to be a good point here.
another from last weekend. there were a lot of really interesting cars, so deal with it.
these two are a little strange. works in progress. both are in the auto butchers car club.
i've run in to the owner of the orange '56 a couple of times in the last couple of weeks. said he'd recently had the chrome done; first time i saw it last year, at the usuals bbq, i guess the bumpers were a bit rusty.
purple car, i've never seen. not sure what that front grille is from—something being spliced and welded—but i'm almost imagining a couple of bolts on the sides and calling it frankenstein. maybe just frank.
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so, a few things happened today. had the day off as my memorial day, since i had to work on the actual holiday. you'd think, yay, three day weekend...get the hell out of town! right? right?
but no. family stuff going on, so not taking any long weekend trips for fun or vacation anytime soon, unless i go on my own. and just when work is telling me i have to take some time off...vacation balance is too high.
shit happens. we're dealing.
didn't go to any car shows today. could have. three or four, if i'd wanted. told myself, i'd get up real stupid early tomorrow, and drive out to one instead. hard drives are filling up anyway.
oh, bit of good news. found out i got five pictures in the oc fair. and realizing i should trust my first instinct when sifting through pictures. i usually pick too many, then ask my better half to help narrow down the selection.
he gives great critique, honest opinions. but there is always one or two i felt strongly about, that he wasn't quite sold on, that i enter anyway, and they've gotten in. same this year. he doesn't care, he's happy for me.
there was something else, but i can't remember what it was now. whatever.
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.
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.
happy easter or passover or whatever.
now pretend like that didn't happen and look at this:
i had already packed up my camera, and was just watching my better half shoot this car. testing out a new camera and lens, he was just having fun. i was standing in the shade, so whatevs.
then a '39 master deluxe drove by, and asked my better half if it was too late. he said of course not, and went off to follow that car to a parking space.
so damn. i stood around for about five minutes, saying i won't, i won't, i won't [on the inside]. it was hot, i was hungry, and just done.
then i lost the inner argument, and got my camera back out. might as well, i'm just standing there waiting.
super shiny and perfect. almost wanted to kick it, like stomping on the feet of a kid with the brand new white shoes.
then, of course, i had to go shoot that '39 too. i'm not stupid.
found this thing parked between two semi-trucks. just random. so i randomly shot a picture of it. no hood ornament, so otherwise, i don't know why i did.
i do like the sunrise light.
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just back from a weekend in san diego. probably will be down there a few more times this year.
sunday morning, we hopped the little red train down to barrio logan to get some breakfast at the market. was fun watching my better half ordering from the lady at the register, who didn't seem to speak english.
his mom was born in and grew up in new mexico, of mexican parents, but refused to teach his sister and him to speak spanish—figured they were in america, they should speak english. still, he knew enough words to get the order right. i took years of spanish in school, was married to a mexican, and still can't speak it at all, so good for him.
after we ate, we walked around chicano park a bit. never went there when it hasn't been full of cars. mostly empty, with some sketchy people hanging around the edges and under the overpass. they must move them out of there at car show time.
i wandered through all the parking lots at the majestics new years' show, and back. new stuff arrived and i'd go back and try to find it. some cars had too many people around them on the first pass, but i got them on the next one.
that seems to be the only way to deal with a bigger show. pretty much why i just don't go to the really major shows people tell me about...just too many people...unless i can be there at the same time cars are rolling in.
this one i probably would have passed by, but there was no one in the way, and the paint on it was pretty well done. but looking at it now, i can't decide if it was the lens, or if that big phallic thing on the trunk was not quite centered. sort of the angle of the dangle...between two girls...boys and their fantasies. lol. at least it's up.
i would just be pissed, or would it be obsessivly crazed, to drop a crap ton of cash on a custom paint job and find it just a tad off.
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been working too much, or should i say, i have too much work. wishing they'd hire another person. trying out a contractor on a couple of simple jobs, but they're located in northern ca, so can't really get a feel for them, and i haven't seen their portfolio. should be interesting.
still, i have another couple of intense weeks coming up at work, so probably will be too fried to post much again. happy to have realized a bit late that it was a holiday weekend, but that just means i gotta work even faster to meet the deadlines. ugh.
don't know what this is for sure. i liked the pinstriping.
background was kinda interesting. but too challenging with the traffic to really get a good shot. couldn't stand out the street very long before another car would come zooming by, looking for a place to park.
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i had the day off...MLK, office was closed. i should have been sifting through paperwork for taxes. can you tell i'm stalling?
as we were walking home from the art show uptown, we found this ford was parked a half block down. i had already taken a few shots of it, when the owner walked up and wanted to grab a jacket out of the car.
better half, who had assigned himself as my bag boy/assistant by this point in the evening, asked him what the story on this car was.
if i remember right, he's had it for about seven years. said it was a complete mess when he got it. said it smelled like cat, or cat piss, fairly unbearable. took four months to air that out somehow.
he cut out that oversize sunroof and smoothed the edges. i think he said when needed, he can pop in the old piece to cover it up, and i suppose keep the rain out. but maybe he doesn't take this out in the rain.
anyway, cool car now. check out that paint job.
and i apologize for the title...better half dared me.
we were heading back toward the car and spotted this car across the parking lot, across the street. definitely bright and sparkly enough to stand out.
lots of bling and too much of everything. all the chrome engraved, airbrushing, glitter, pinstriping and pink. pink. pink is for chicks. i'm a chick, but hate pink, and that's just me.
but it was an interesting amalgamation of skills.
