mr bill

1950 dodge coronet

i met mr bill at the show in riverside.

i saw his car the evening before, as the sun was going down. he turned his lights on for me.

(it wasn’t my favorite shot of the car, but i’ll include it here in the gallery.)

i saw him again the next morning, about six-thirty. he asked if i remembered him. yes, of course. turned your lights on for me.

i shot around the outside of the car, then he said i should check out the inside. saw the mr. bill doll, and said in the voice from saturday night live, “oh no, mr. bill!”

he said his name was bill, and i think he said his wife or a friend had given it to him.

he told me he’d taken three years of classes from some well-known craftsman of upholstery, at a college, until the college said he and the other students were just using it as a car club hang out.

mentioned that his wife had given him the task of sewing up some pillows, thinking that it would keep him busy for a while, and that he’d actually enjoyed it, and quickly finished the project.

he said he had reworked and stitched the interior of the car himself. it’s immaculate, and for some reason, i can’t find the pictures i took of the seats.

it is a beautiful car, and he was quite charming.

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the turquoise and white paint job reminded me of the keds tennis shoes i had as a kid. you know, the ones that dyed your socks and feet turquoise blue. those were the days.

didn't make it

1957 cadillac

thought about going to a show today. really i did. went so far as to get my cameras out, format cards, and clean the sensors.

was literally ready to walk out the back door, when the front doorbell rang. better half's nephew, wife, and year old kid had arrived from northern california. so, nixed that plan. it was already after one anyway, and hot.

i think they plan on going to disneyland tomorrow, so maybe i can get out to the show at legg lake for a while in the morning.

better half took himself to the doctor this morning. they gave him some kind of antibiotic, so he sick for reals. he still managed to walk uptown for breakfast when he got back. ran into a couple of people asking if i was going to the show today, but he had to tell them he had no idea, since i hadn't mentioned anything to him.

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saw this beauty at the sultans' show earlier this month. love those bullet tail lights, though from what i've read, didn't show up until nineteen fifty-nine models.

and the skies opened

1929 ford

yo, gary! here's your car!

i met gary several years ago, when i was first out shooting cars. he had a bel air back then. i think he said he still has it, but now i only see him once a year, maybe, and at the last couple shows, he's been putting around in this emerald ford. it's a jewel. but it ain't a chevy.

took a few shots of it here, at the chino corn feed run, not long before the rain started. ya, gary, i think someone up there was targeting your car.

the other shots were so similar to what i shot at another show, that you might think i masked it out and dropped it on this street.

i like the distortion of this shot; the car just seems more threatened by whatever that wormhole in the clouds might be.

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one more day in sd. classes all day today, followed by a few hours at petco park. my friend was unable to join me, but i have no problem watching baseball in a stadium on my own. i like to sit way up at the top, as close to behind home plate as possible. just more fun up there, and climbing all those stairs is just good for buns and thighs, right?

all by myself

i've been going to more shows lately. saving up lots of pictures for a rainy day, like a squirrel. just not burying them in the ground. good july; i have so many to choose from for posting, it's hard to pick. most times i have to narrow it down to three or four shots, and have my better half pick one.

speaking of my better half, he's alive and well, thank you. i get a lot of people asking where he is, when i'm at shows. he's very popular, apparently. he has been unable to make it to many shows lately, as his mother had gotten very sick not too long ago, and he's been taking care of her. splits caretaking with his sister, but weekends he's on his own, prime car show time.

his mom is doing much better, and i'm hoping he'll come out to the uptown show for a while on the fifteenth next month. just a short walk down the street, so he wouldn't be too far from home.

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my kid is sitting for the bar exam for the next three days. good luck, my boy!

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went out the blvd bombs show last saturday, at st. alphonsus catholic church. smallish show, but almost entirely old chevys, so hey, bliss. was hot, wished i'd gotten my butt moving earlier, but my better half delayed me >:)

the show was basically an intersection of a couple of streets in the church complex, as well as a small parking lot. just enough cars, that if it hadn't been so hot, i could have happily shot each and every one. was a good turnout, just the same.

i started in the little parking lot, working my way counterclockwise, seemingly a few cars from a few clubs: true memories, originals, pharaohs, and some low rider, jumpy car club, i can't remember, since i didn't shoot any of their cars.

after the pharaohs cars, there was this guy, sitting behind his car in the shade, by himself. don't think he was affiliated with any club. pretty car, so i chatted a little with the guy, and took a few shots. i was wearing an old uptown whittier show shirt, and he asked if it was a good show. told him it was, that it was only a few weeks away. he said he might check it out. hope he will. it's always a good time.

he was parked next to a post of the basketball court, so had to shoot around it. really did ruin a good angle, so didn't waste any memory card space on that side.

wondering if the little louvers on the hood are more decorative than functional for cooling the engine?

told him i'd post something, if i got a decent shot of it. this should do. might go back and push some yellow back into the picture; i think the turquoise is a little too blue, at least on this computer screen. what do you think?