what's up?

made in the shade

1959 oldsmobile ninety-eight

been a couple of years since i've seen this one. it was at the last whittier uptown show, i've seen pictures of it, but i had to get out of town that day, and didn't get far enough down the street it was on when i rushed through the show.

find this car, you find a dad and his very friendly, well spoken kid. didn't see the dad at first, but the kid walked right over and asked if i remembered him, which i did. don't run into too many kids that straight forward, so he's memorable.

saw the dad sitting with the kid in the corner, by the car, as we were on our way out, so we waved.

better half has spent the day rearranging furniture for his mom, in preparation for bringing the xmas tree in from the garage. the annual xmas blitz. i believe the theme this year is elves, so the tree will be smothered in lights and the elf on the shelf times one-thousand.

heard about the klique show at lincoln park, but wasn't on our calendar, and we had other stuff to get done. kind of a bummer.

i've been out a couple of times today, but only to get some lunch and go to the market—making banana bread and needed walnuts for my mother-in-law's loaf made with splenda vs the good stuff—more a walnut bread with some bananas, i call it her prison loaf. she really likes walnuts.

flat

1959 chevy impala

had a hard time getting up and out of the house today. just feeling out of it. finally decided to get dressed around noon, and head down the street to the show at the high school, a fundraiser for the football team. it was poorly advertised, as school shows go. only noticed a couple of flyers taped to business windows uptown, in alcoves, not the best locations to be seen.

i hadn't been to a show at the high school for several years; that one had been for the baseball team, and had way more cars, and of the types i cared about, so i had high expectations for this show.

this show had a disappointing majority of muscle cars vs the bombs i look for, but since this was a football fundraiser, that would be the crowd i'd expect to find. seemed to have been a tent with someone signing autographs in the midst of the new model mustangs, but i have no idea who it may have been.

did enjoy watching some dude in a mustang not paying attention, while wanting all the attention, driving into the parking lot, and somehow managing to drive over a parking block with a bang. took a whole group of guys to help direct him off the thing without doing damage to his side panel.

there were a few cars from each of a few clubs we were familiar with, and my better half and i were greeted with "about time you showed up" from more than a few people. they're more used to seeing us at sunrise i guess.

spent about an hour and a half at the show, before i overheated and we'd shot most of the stuff we liked.

this little detail is from ronnie's fifty-nine impala. its late—i'll have to add a picture of the car some other time.

after the show, i had to go deal with a flat tire on my car. like, one thing has led to another since my car got hit last month. i don't know why. got it to the tire store, and they found a nail in it and patched it up, so i guess that will be good for a while.

then we went out to see about getting the alarm on the car working right again, but they were getting ready to close and aren't open tomorrow. so that may take another week before i get it fixed.

stopped by my parents' house the other day. they recently got a new used car to replace their old one that had been totaled in minor accident. had just gotten it registered, since the dmv had been downed by a hacker in their system, and they finally felt able to drive it.

apparently my dad was backing up in a parking lot, had looked once for anyone behind him, and started to back up. either he didn't see the other car coming up behind him, or they didn't notice him backing up, and now the new car is back in the same shop that totalled the other car.

my mom said he just wasn't used to the height of the brake pedal in the new car. i think it is more his reflexes are getting slower and he can't lift his leg so high or quickly. still can't talk him out of giving up driving; it's one of the last things he has that gets him out of the house. anyone that has ideas on how to convince an old person its time to give up driving, please let me know.

plans

1959 chevrolet impala

same clubs and cars always seem to get these spaces under the solar panels at san fernando. i suppose because they usually pull the wheels off, and stick mirrors under them, tossing shiny marbles around as decoration.

i guess i understand the why, but at that point, i usually move along. not interested in the soft underbelly of the car, and all the clean chrome that might be found there.

caught this one before they had a chance to pop the hood, or balance it up on three wheels or something similar. pretty sure he moved it soon after i took this shot, since i only have the one of it.

after a few hours research, and looking at the last minute booking prices, we decided to just take a train down to san diego for our vacation. better half had an email with an incredible deal on a room for a week, as compared with other hotels in the area.

anywhere else in the united states, aside from washington dc, was going to be out of the question due to price and/or weather issues, so one less thing to worry about.

last time we did a week anniversary trip in san diego, it rained most of the week. really didn't matter. i like the rain, and i like to hang out with the better half, so we did fine. forecast this year is hot and sunny, so hoping to get out a bit and see stuff.

too bad we're gonna miss the last games of the baseball season by a week. had an opportunity to get four tickets to a padres game last week, but i just got back from my road trip, and couldn't do it. my son's former college roommate made the team a year or so ago, and seems to be doing well. would have been fun to watch him play.

well, the good news is that we will be able to get to the saint hilary's show on saturday; bad news, we'll be unable to go to san pedro—have fun jimbo39. take lots of pictures and post them!

under the bridge

1959 chevrolet impala

one of the joys of arriving way too early to a show, is the line-up or staging area for the cars. when there are no reserved spots involved, or they are there to claim areas for their club members, being first in line has its advantages.

there are always cars in the street that leads to the entrance onto the grass at chicano park. they let vendors in way earlier than anyone else. so cars are parked, and owners are out socializing or sleeping in the car. often kids are bouncing around inside the car, parents keeping an eye on them from nearby.

i think there were some young girls in this one, but i'm low enough you can't see them, unless they were right in or hanging out of the windows.

my better half spoke to the owner, said i'd be more likely to post a picture of it in this decade than he would, though i think he has actually posted a couple of shots in the last couple of months. quite the increase of one a year for the last few. he's been a bit busy taking care of his mom, but she's been a lot healthier, so he has relaxed a bit more. he's been going to more shows with me, experimenting with his various lenses and camera setups. more fun than just being my bag boy, i hope.

oh, that shine

1959 chevrolet impala

always see people obsessively polishing their cars at shows. almost as soon as they park, they have a towel and bottle of liquid wax in hand. get the dust from the drive there off, i guess.

rub it and rub it, ahhhhwwww...

this car was already parked when i found it. middle of an aisle, gave up waiting for a space. didn't see the polishing. you'd think at a nighttime car show, there would be no reason, right? honestly, he probably didn't, and it is just several layers of clear coat, but damn, could almost imagine seeing other worlds in that paint.

i love these impalas, with their curves, and i was hopeful that the camera would be able to capture what i saw. i think this is pretty close. and i'm completely suprised that there weren't more cars and/or people moving as blurs through the exposure.

wings and a prayer

1959 chevrolet impala

came across this impala in the midst of things. i just love the back of these cars, and usually don't pass up the opportunity to take a shot.

usually, i pull in close, up and under those fins. i did that with this one too, but just didn't get an angle i liked. this picture, pulled back a bit, still showed the curves that i want, and gives it a sense of it's place in the world, the variety of makes and years represented at the show.

is it my eyes, or does it still look a little dark? maybe it's my monitor.

flat top, four door

i was told that this is a rare impala; that it was engineered to be a convertible, by just removing the roof; that somehow this one was ordered, and then no one picked it up, so the roof was never removed. and rarer still, that it has four doors.

i like the back window that curves around to be the side windows. and the fins. always the fins.

under the rainbow

another from this past weekend. i've had a request for more, so i'll put them up as i can. took me more than an hour and half to get home today, and i had to get some other stuff taken care of before sitting at my computer.

got a few shots of cars lined up parallel to the sidewalk early, before they started moving them into the final locations, crammed in together. just another reason to be there early. and usually, the guys are out and about chatting with others they haven't seen for a while, so the cars are all mine. they watch, but mostly are out of the shot.

this impala is beautiful. i'd drive it. love the back of these.

the sideview above was selected to show at the twenty sixteen orange county fair.

og cruzn

i haven't pulled my cameras out of the bag in a few weeks. been resting my side, like the doctor said. still hurts, so waiting on results of xrays. maybe monday.

got the batteries charged, getting up early for a show tomorrow. always somewhat nervous about going out after not shooting in a while. shouldn't be; it is sort of like riding a bike, and it doesn't take long to get back into a groove.

at least it will be cooler than the last few shows i went to, now that winter is moving in. weather people keep flip flopping on whether it will rain or not. now they've settled on a ten percent chance, so very doubtful.

so, old memories, we will be there early early. hoping for a decent parking place again.

saw this impala at the uptown show back in august. i like the back ends, with the wingspan out to there. didn't care much for the color and glitter, but it isn't my car to stare at all day, every day.

shot early, still in the staging area...can tell because of location and how they are not parked in the spaces; just sitting in the middle of the street.

milestone

look what ronnie has been hiding in his garage. said he'd had it there for five years, and finally got it fixed up and running. so he brought it out to the whittier uptown show. he was helping with the early morning setup of the show, so he got this choice spot on the street. just one of the advantages of getting there early.

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check it out. this is my thousandth rambling post here. who knew? nobody. who cares? nobody.

wondering if it's worth continuing with this website. i like it, but really, i'm running out of things to say, or maybe it was the need to say things. maybe i'm just going through a period of climbing back in my shell, migrating south for the winter, i don't know. i'm blaming the blood moon tonight.

most people just come looking for the pictures anyway. got flickr for that. and this doesn't satisfy the instant gratification most people are seeking, looking for that photo dump from that day's show.

i think i'll kill of the other site for ordering pictures, since so few people ever used it. ya, i'll start with that. not renewing it.

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skipped the dead sled show yesterday. figured i'd spend some time with my better half, and give my side a rest. i don't understand. if it's one particular rib with a crack in it, why it hurts randomly in different spots on that side, and not relating to any rib.