miss it

1948 chevy fleetline

from the broiler a few weeks ago. i just love me a fleetline. alone in a corner, everyone in a prayer circle out of the frame farther away, i took advantage of getting a shot without people cruising through.

ok, there was a woman sitting behind me, keeping an eye, but without any more convo than a "hello," i might as well have been alone.

i don't make it out to the weekly shows at bob's anymore; rush hour traffic just keeps me away. that and the last few times i made a point of going anyway, there was hardly anything there. i did see for a while that some clubs had adopted it, and were making it a thing again, but i haven't seen any pics lately. so maybe they've given up?

maybe i should go the last wednesday night before xmas, when they've got colored lights up on the building. it used to be busy then, and reflections on cars are just lovely. should i, shouldn't i? i'll flip a coin that week. high tech decision making is best sometimes.

belated happy birthday shout out to angel—who i used to see there once in a while.

floppy

1947 pontiac

pontiac from the fundraiser at the broiler. looking for something different to shoot. had this one ready to post, so it'll do, this fine, rainy monday. pretty sure i'd find it in my files from other shows, if i searched.

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out of the office for an appointment. there's a potluck and i'm not in the mood to participate. just want to do my time and go home.

stopped for something to eat on the way back, since my stomach was growling about all the water i'd been drinking, and not enough food. ordered a combo burrito. was given the most flaccid burrito i've been served in my life. wasn't wrapped tightly, and pretty sure it was just really watery beans and cheese with no meat at all. maybe all the beef had drowned and was resting peacefully at the bottom of the tortilla, beneath the refried porridge. felt like i was holding a warm, loaded diaper. yum.

guess i'll head back to the office. i've taken an early lunch, and will skip the potluck.

victory

victory motorcycle

went uptown to see doctor strange first thing this morning. not my better half's kind of flick, so went and sat in the theatre with the other five people that were there to see it, with a big bucket of popcorn and big coke. tomorrow. tomorrow, i'll stop drinking the stuff. that's what i'll say until it actually happens.

after, got a refill of popcorn for my mother-in-law, and beat the rain home. must have been quite the sight waddling past the restaurant, with all the cowboys fanboys standing outside, with my giant popcorn in one hand and giant coke in the other. ended up dumping the drink soon after getting home, so one less drink for the day.

xmas tree has big balls. and small balls. no sign of elves yet, but have no fear, they will invade the tree shortly.

relatives are getting ready to leave soon. i've tempted the baby girl with homemade chocolate chip cookies the last couple of evenings. she's loud, but shy. we bonded yesterday, and she'd take them; today, she really wanted one, but wouldn't take one from me, and instead went and got her mama to get it for her. i think i'll send them home with them. no one here will eat them, except me. i only wanted the cookie dough. i guess i'll foist them on my coworkers tomorrow.

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saw this bike yesterday at danny boy's fundraiser at big boy. they were collecting money and toys to help out one of their kids with cancer, and to send toys to the hospital, for kids that have to spend the holidays there. they all gathered for announcements, and one of the biggest prayer circles i've seen at a show.

took this shot before they did all that. i was shooting a car nearby, and the owner revved his bike engine. thought he was taking off, but no, just wanted the attention. seemed to be a solo driver, and i haven't seen a victory bike in a while, so i took a few pictures.

he seemed happy to have been noticed.

dud

purposely drove out to the broiler yesterday. i'm in the mood to shoot, and was hoping there would be some cars in downey to help me with that.

i go there rarely anymore, mostly because i have farther to go after work, and just can't bear to sit in traffic that much longer. and the last four or five times i have decided to go, disappointed by how few cars are there. it used to be so packed, even the back lot was full, even when i got there early.

well last night, got there about five-thirty. only a handful of cars there for the "show." small group of regulars, and i wandered over to the few i've met before. they joked that they didn't remember my name, where have i been, etc.

they talked about another show going on at the same time. mentioned that at the show i used to go to off alondra, they had torn down the building and were putting in an in-n-out or something.

anyway, i give up. this show is off my list, not worth the stress of the traffic. i liked the cars that were there, but too far for too few. sorry.

spent an hour with what there was and bid it goodbye for wednesday night shows.

wishing this woodie wasn't next to the t-bird, but apparently the owners are buds, so oh well.

mary poppins

been another busy week. my son graduated law school. has been sort of lost since he took his last final, with nothing to do. not a problem. now for two months of studying for the bar. then the waiting begins.

work busy again too. i have deadlines that are forcing me to work a day or two over this holiday weekend. better half, same story. oh well.

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posting these, only because the owner chatted and seemed interested in seeing pics of his car.

these cars are almost twins; same year, same paint, same details. turns out the owner of the car on the left built both of them. the only difference i'm seeing is that the car on the left has a chrome spare wheel cover and the other matches the car.

they're practically perfect in every way. just close the hood and slam down the trunk next time.

eight-track

went to the wingfest this past weekend, hoping for a lot full of impalas. got there close to nine, not too early, but before official start time, hoping for fewer people in the shots too.

ran into a fellow flickr friend, rudy, who knew me by name, and after getting his name, recognized him again. last saw him a couple of years ago at the majestics new year's show.

met another photographer, who said he had driven in from indio. he admired my rollie bag, and i marveled at all the camera gear he was carrying around, slung about his shoulders and waist.

and also victor, who i'd seen the day before at the la mirada show. he gave me a heads up on the show, and also mentioned one out at santa anita, if i needed more cars to round out my weekend.

there were only a few cars there. fine. i'll shoot them. more cars trickled in. gave them the benefit of the doubt, that people were at church or nursing hangovers. 

hoods and trunks started being popped open. <sigh> ignoring my usual dislike of shooting them that way, i just shrugged and rolled with it. 

before i left, there was a reasonable number of cars, but with lots of space for more. wished the cars that were there had moved to allow for more space between cars, since it seemed available. oh well, shoot ‘em as you find ‘em.

this car was over toward the back corner. i was looking at it, wishing the trunk was closed. few people were around it at the time, and i liked the trees, clouds, and the broiler sign framing it out.

owner was sitting there with his better half. he said i should look inside...check out the eight-track player...asked if i knew what one was. said a lot of people don't know what they are anymore, and hoped i didn't take the fact that i knew what it was in the wrong way. no worries. we're all getting older.

haven't seen one since my dad sold off his old cadillac...in the eighties...and his crap music collection came and went with the car. 

told me about how he had found it online, and also had some recorder, if i understood, that he could make his own cartridges of music.

well, it made him happy. rock on.

vibrant

this is from last week's show in norco. almost as soon as i walked into the show area of the lot, i heard, "kathy!" for all i know, they're calling to someone else, cuz they usually are, but not this time.

it was an old acquaintance, my buddy, gary. hadn't seen him at a show for a couple of years. and you know with old guys...you start to wonder...

last time i saw him, was at the riverside show-n-go. he'd had his chevy there the first night, but not the next day. his friends told me his starter had stopped. on the car, that is.

and then i didn't see the car or him there last year. really at any show in riverside last year.

but here he was in norco. with a new car. no wonder.

said he still has the chevy, but now has to decide which one to take out.

so of course, i had to take a picture of his new baby. so hey, gary. what's with the bright, bright colors on your cars?

and what the h...this is like my third or fouth post in a row with a turquisey color vehicle.

lucy lucy lucy

been a crazy week at work. i do have some deadlines i gotta work toward this weekend, but i'm still trying to have "a weekend." 

spent the morning in the oc, watching my kid play in one of his alumni baseball games. unfortunately, both high school and college games were today, so he picked high school. probably because his best friend, and former team mate was in town, before heading off for spring training for his minor league team.

another of his former roommates should be starting this year in the  major league. maybe i can weasel some tickets from him. my kid chose to pursue a law degree, and is about to graduate. he should pick one of his friends, and work on their contracts.

anyway, after the game, figured i had options for the balance of the day: go home and work on my deadlines; get some lunch and go home and work on my deadlines; or i could drive out to norco, to see if there was anything worth seeing at the all american working iron show. guess what i picked. its called avoidance.

i don't miss the drive out toward riverside. anyone else feel like they're driving in the wild wild west going east on the 55 freeway? there always seems to be accidents, and people drive even more like idiots than other freeways. like there are no lane lines, swerving around the semi trucks. for get physics of stopping that much weight.

been a while since i've gone out to that big boy, and the parking lot was busy, but not crazy full like other shows they have there.

this one mostly had trucks, vans, and any cars that may have been used on farms back in ye olde times. and old cars were welcome too. unfortunately, many of them had their hoods up, so that cut my stay time by a lot.

i was about ready to leave, not finding a lot to keep me interested in shooting, when this car drove through the lot. was hoping it wasn't leaving, and happily saw it park way at the end, away from most of the show. i headed back that way directly, just in case.

owner was still sitting inside, on a cell phone. he jumped out when he saw me setting up. wasn't necessary, i was low, and he wouldn't have been in the shot at all. anyway, i took a few angles of it, and liked this one best. silhouettes up on the light pole, and the side view of the car; seemed appropriate.

one of the things i noticed when it originally went by, was that there was a big ole' lucille ball on the trunk. i couldn't get a good straight up shot of her, because he'd backed up against some plants i didn't want to totally walk around in or on.

owner said his wife really loved lucy—didn't everybody? he said he just happened to be driving by, wasn't really there for the show. can't remember where he said he lived, but i think he was just as far from his home as i was.

i shot quick. he had been on the phone with his wife, and had to get going. thanks for waiting while i got my fun on.

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back home now, and decided not to do any work today at all. that, and also cuz my better half had my computer set up all taken apart, in order to put a battery backup on it. if his mom has her heater turned on, and someone runs the microwave, it blows a fuse. which means, my computer crashes. has happened one too many times. 

and i got a new back up drive, that i'm filling up as i type. gotta make sure its working. still has not quite three hours out of five left just for all the pictures i took last year, and january this year. 

gotta go clean my camera sensors now. hoping to wake up early and head out to hillco for the super cruise before the big game. hard to get parking for that thing.

after that, then i really do have to get my job done. meeting on monday morning to present the designs.

just another day

so its kind of trying to rain outside. just rain already.

vacation time is way better when you've got something or somewhere planned to be. i got nothin. maybe if it was spending the time in my own house, rather than my better half's. but my kid is still living there for at least one more semester.

i guess i'm looking forward to freeing all my stuff from storage. it will be like christmas. then deciding on what i don't really need anymore—been without it for four years—so how much of it is just old baggage from a past life?

meanwhile...three more days to figure out what to do with. still doing backups and copyright filing.

thought this one from bob's big boy was ok. this car parks here a lot. if he's handicapped, that would be the reason. anyway, the car sits, i move. i liked this angle this time.

wondering if more than a few cars show up at the broiler on wednesday nights anymore. might just go over tomorrow if its not raining. week before xmas, used to get the lights on the drive-in and wreaths on the cars, so...

effected

there's a chevy under there: glitter, chrome, airbrush, pinstripe, reverse doily/lace, glass etching...i dunno...a bit much? interesting, but i don't know where to look first. sorry.

long day, so i'll bite my tongue and stop now.