stealthy

saw this pontiac out at the unidos show in walnut. can't remember seeing one before, so i had to take a few shots of it. i otherwise might have walked on by, since the back end was open, and you know how i am about hoods up; same for the trunk. or shoot real low and try to keep it out of the frame.

i think i like this one best, as there are no people in the shot and there are clouds in the sky.

the owner watched me for a little while then came over to ask if i sell pictures, answer is: sometimes. he's looking for something big, though he wasn't specific. 16x20? billboard? on metal? guess we'll see. he seemed sincerely interested, and had never even seen my work, so i hope he likes this one.

i liked the hood ornament: inspiration for, or inspired by the stealth bomber?

xmas is over

xmas is officially over at the house. spent all day taking down the tree, finally. my better half would be perfectly happy with leaving it out year round, as he did when he had his own place, but his mom has a thing about getting it put away. she's been sick with the flu since about xmas, and just didn't have the energy to get after us to take it down until now.

while no where as near as difficult as putting the crap on the tree, disentangling about a hundred strings of lights from the branches is just as painful, with the fake little needles stabbing at your hands, and the wire in the branches tearing at the flesh. then packing each string into zip lock bags to keep them from tangling up for next year, and sorting the ornaments and other decorations into bins. still need to finish tomorrow and throw it all in the garage.

but first thing tomorrow, heading down to hillco's super cruise, which they seem to have had every super sunday for more than a decade. i got there late last year, but was told there were several hundred cars at one point. that pesky foozball game clears them out pretty quick.

i remember it being much warmer last year, and i have very few photos for the hour or so i was there. i know there were some wonderful duke's cars there, but there were also these works in progress, as well as many just rusted buckets of metal.

supposed to start at 9am., planning to be there earlier. hoping i don't freeze and they let me wander around while everyone is getting situated. will be interesting to see what turns up.

tweedy

looking back to last year's shows, which i hope to attend this year, i found this chevy from greenspan's tweedy mile show. so many wonderful cars there. another show i would go to a whole lot earlier than i did, to avoid the heat later in the day. also the humidity, from the water evaporating off of the grass.

i think i really just liked the color combo of this one, the green, beige and pop of red.

sweet pickle

totally rained on the parade today. but they did it anyway. doesn't start as early as it did a few years ago, and it is also not as good. and the few cars that were in it, sucked. my better half says there are probably different people organizing it than there were a few years ago. same can be said for the uptown car show, but that's a different post.

anyway, i took some stupid pictures. the camera body is waterproof, but the lens isn't, so i couldn't get out and get shots i would have liked. then, duh, i went inside and grabbed a longer lens. but still, didn't get what i wanted. you can see some of them over at my flickr page.

and wouldn't you know it, the rain stopped after the parade. made my day. and then i didn't want to go out to the car shows. the house was too warm, and it was too cold outside. so i missed moon eyes again. and the latin gents show. and something over in lakewood. ya, i totally would have done them all not too long ago. i'm just out of it.

there are a couple of shows i'm thinking about tomorrow, but i don't know. toy drives bring out some great cars, but rain drives them away, so we'll see...we have to be somewhere in the evening. also hear there's the parts show out in pomona, but gonna miss that one too.

this is one of the old memories cars from last week. hard to believe it was pushing 80 last week, and this week, maybe 60. the lady selling the blankets would have sold so much more now.

wax on, wax off

got home in only an hour today. did everyone call in sick today? recovering from the drive home in holiday traffic? i don't know, but i can only hope it continues being a relatively shorter and easier commute in the afternoon. though there were still those a--holes that feel the need to weave through the lanes at the fastest speed possible. idiots. go pull your head out, you won't get where you're going any faster, unless you are looking for the pearly gates...or maybe the fiery stank below, which is where i like to mutter at you as you whizz by.

blah blah blah. weird day. and i'm tired anyway. so i'll keep it short.

i'm not sure of the year of this beauty, but that's no surprise. anyone care to help a lady out, and let me know, so i can make a note of it?

i like how the sun is glinting on the squiggles left by the buffer and of the last vestiges of wax on the hood. otherwise polished to perfection. liking the honey tones here. more frequently see these all in one color, so nice for a change.

i'm thinking the blanket vendor behind the car there didn't sell as much as she had hoped, being that it was so hot outside. no worries. cold weather is coming.

olive drab

i have spent too much time sitting in traffic lately. plenty enough to contemplate inane thoughts.

take this for instance: if they manage to clone a person, whose birthday should the clone celebrate?

thinking about changing my hours at work, since i get there so early to beat the morning rush anyway. i sort of think leaving an hour or even a half hour earlier than i do now won't make a damn difference anyway, but my better half thinks it will, but then he doesn't have to get past the 55 freeway in the afternoon, or that caltrans work up past buena park. pfft. it all sucks.

anyway, he is likely to get called in and go back to work tonight, so i should get going and spend some time with him.

here's one of the tribe's cars. haven't really had a good opportunity to get a shot i like of it. the owner was still polishing it when i was first there.

circled back and caught this shot before the other guys got closer. there's still a group there, but far enough away to not ruin the shot.

and i do like racoon tails.

motivation

saw this one at the legends show at point fermin. the owner wasn't around, but a guy who said he did the restoration on it was there. said it only took about seven or eight months to fully rework it, since the owner had the cash to get it done quickly. otherwise, he said it typically takes several years.

he did a pretty good job, i think. guess money changes everything, no?

more than i could catch

finally made it over to the car show by the sea in san pedro. i've known about it for a couple of years, but have just never been able to get to it.

my better half had expected to be called in to work today, but volunteered to go along, since i was going to get there very early. i figured if he did get called, there were several other shows i'd been given flyers on i could hit closer to home.

but they never did call him, so we kept on shooting cars. and wow, we could not believe how many cars could be packed into the little park area. and better still, mostly the kind i really love—old chevy bombs, pontiacs, fords, cadillacs—you name it, it was probably there.

it is hosted each year by the legends car club. i'd been there previously for their xmas show, but hadn't stayed long. they were a extremely friendly and outgoing group of guys, and many came over to introduce themselves and make me welcome.

they stop letting cars in when they hit about six hundred, someone told me. i saw a lot of oldies driving down the street after they arrived late. i had to pass by many cars that i would have ordinarily gone ape shit over at a regular, local show, there were just so many and so little time.

very few people stopped to chat with me, and i'm finding out, that many prefer to seek out my better half. fine with me, he's much better spoken regarding the cameras, and more comfortable, in general, chatting people up. although, that does allow me to keep on being my shy old self. its only people that have never seen me before, who really come over and inquire. i don't mind one bit taking a break from shooting your car, to answer your question, if i can, or to hear your story about it. i am pretty socially retarded the first few times i talk to you, but keep trying, i'll get the hang of it eventually.

if i can remember your story, i'll write about it. if you see your car, and want to share, please do comment or send me an email and i'll add to my post.

this car belonged to one of the first guys that ventured over to speak with me for a few minutes. not exactly the first, but those guys didn't stay long enough to ask what i do with the pictures, and didn't get a card.

i don't remember having one of these in my files, and particularly not in green if i do. it caught my eye, and that was that. i wanna say this one is a member of the harbor knights car club, but i'm not sure.

beautiful cars, a great day, perfect weather and location. i'll definitely plan to be there next year.

i apologize to the other clubs that sent over flyers to me for their shows, that i couldn't get to today. some days, i just can't move fast enough.

destiny

this was the staging area for the whittier car show just before seven a.m. a seemingly endless line of cars down the main street, then other lines going down the cross streets, which you can't see from here. these guys should consider themselves lucky to have to wait it out here, in the shade. the side street guys were already getting hit by the sun.

so i took advantage of the captives and had my way with their cars at my leisure. still close together, but this time, nose to tail.

i don't remember seeing this one around before. i like these type trucks/vans/whatever you call them, with the big shiny sides; they reflect whatever is near them so well, when the light hits just right.

at the helm

here's one of the tribe's cars. guy next to it said it was of helms bakery fame. i didn't grow up out here, so i had no clue what he was talking about, but my better half knew all about it. guess they used to drive these vans around and sell donuts out of the back. can only imagine they put a stop to that because of health codes.