chopped

dear specific whoever is reading this blog and hitting the refresh button repeatedly, you get to the other pages by scrolling down, and using the numbers at the bottom to navigate through these pages, or go to the search tab.

there are two hundred and nine pages, at this point, so it might take you a while. if you're looking for a particular car, send me an email, i'll see if i've done anything with it, and maybe i'll put it up. i'm just afraid you're going to wear out that f5 button on your keyboard...i don't get any brownie points for page views, and neither do you...you'll just get frustrated.

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i've got things to do, and will be away again tomorrow, so i'll just put this chopped bel air up for now. don't think i've seen anything like this one before. wonder how far they are going to take it.

choppy waters

i've heard that to help keep your heart healthy, you should do ten thousand steps a day.

the internet says that adds up to about five miles. who the heck has time to walk or run five miles a day? says the girl chained to a computer ten plus hours a day...

i don't have a phone or an app to track steps, but i'm pretty sure i'd be lucky to do that many in a typical week. i think the only time i can is when i'm on vacation, when we have all day to casually walk as far as there are things to do and see. but alas, i'm not on vacation everyday.

today was sunday. i had some time. i walked about three miles. went the other way, from a where i'd take a typical walk, out and about in whittier.

sadly, i didn't see one old car. saw a guy on a harley, who waved to me. maybe i've seen his bike around, but he went by too fast to know for sure.

purposely headed back home down a particular street, hoping to see an old fleetline that used to sit in the same place, on the same road, all the time. i wanted to finally get a picture of it, since i was going to walk past it, but it was gone.

saw a porcelin throne, sitting randomly in the middle of an alley, and a sign in a window that said, "prepare to meet thy god." what the hell kind of message is that? would it be some kind of indiana jones dart blowing fun run, if i had chosen to take that alley path? freestyle target practice? strange way to express your religion, or maybe my mind just ran off on a tangent, and lost the message completely.

saw a few cars from crazy life car club, but didn't shoot them. maybe the one that was parked sitting there, on its highest hydraulics setting would have made a decent picture, but nah. didn't.

not sure when i'll take another long walk. still pretty warm out. i'll wait for the cold. or the rain. or even better, a big car show.

and cars like this one. all the way down at the end of uptown--that walk must have done my heart good, right?

hot chocolate

been a hell of a week at work. but now i have to go. a week away from computers, work, and worry. i am tired. and my side hurts off and on. still cannot contemplate how i cracked a rib. so bizarre.

i am sorry to have to miss a few car shows. i did want to go to the bomb club show, but i'll be on a plane while they roll in. maybe next year.

saw this brown car, on a particularly hot day at mooneyes open house. the warm, rich color just makes me think of chocolate. milk chocolate. not that bitter dark stuff. ick.

upside down

saw this cadillac out at the moon eyes open house. seems to be a work in progress, and i'm not quite sure where its going. bits and pieces sliced and spliced, and chopped.

someone said that back bumper is just a cadillac bumper flipped upside down and stuck on there. it is quite different, but can only hope they have some good air bags to keep them from dragging the ground going up a driveway.

baggage

i've been busy all day. walked uptown for an hour or so at lunch...shopping for a graduation gift. really difficult when you don't know what someone likes or needs, or what is appropriate for the occasion. me, i like toys—monsters, aliens, weird stuff. don't think that would work for this girl.

still need to pack my bag for the trip. haven't decided when to leave. so i've been sitting here playing with my pictures. was trying to find a specific car, a black bel air. looked through the last few years of pictures. i think i have it, but no doubt i've labeled it wrong. probably on a hard drive i don't have here, a backup drive at a different location. oh well. this merc will have to do.

chopped and differently stylized flames than i usually see on cars. it was sitting at the edge of the park, stopping traffic. even got a crazy guy from a passing bus to get out before his real stop, to come over and make loud exclamations. i think the general thinking was that he might have been on something, but maybe he's just overly enthusiastic.

kudos to the pinstriper/airbrusher. somebody named vandemon, at least that's how they signed the back end.

and check out al the louvres. that looks difficult to do, without effing it up. also had hubcaps with cadillac emblems on it, and a desoto grille. guy sitting next to it, who seemed to know the owner, said just because they were cool.

chop chop

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.

tonight, tonight

went uptown for dinner tonight. saw a couple of very nice cars. took pictures with my cell phone. i put those up on instagram: #randomcarsuptown. service in the restaurant was soooooo slow.

this one was sitting across the street from the restaurant. i kept an eye on it through the window. it was still there after the meal. got all the way home, and decided to get the camera and wander back uptown, to see if either car was still there.

my better half came along to keep an eye on me, i suppose. or maybe he just enjoys my company. he was suggesting i try shooting some different settings, being that it was night time. told him i'd give them a try after i shot them with my typical settings.

guess i got lucky. they both were still parked. just barely. shot a couple of a pontiac before the owner came back and took off. then continued down the street, to see if the other car was still there.

yes it was. this really cool ford. but the owner was sitting in the driver's seat. looked like he was texting, so i went ahead and started shooting, hoping he wouldn't leave before i was done. takes longer exposures when its dark.

i guess he saw me set up, and was just stalling until i was done.

my better half got his attention, mainly to thank him for waiting me out. he got out and introduced himself, and we got to talking about all the work he'd put into the car, and the plans he had for improving it, and making it go faster. dude just got his hair cut and was dressed for a night of cruising, i guess.

a few random facts, that i can remember: same owner for fifteen years and his daily driver; suicide doors; working on a bigger engine to drop in -- 400 something, sorry don't remember the specific model. (if only my bro were in town with his photographic memory); will be adding additional exhaust pipes on the sides with laser engraved skull and bones; chopped three inches; no back window; flames look fairly prominent here, but earlier were more of the ghost variety; after market racing skirts on the rear wheels.

talked quite a bit about the paint job. said he should have listened to the paint guy about the clear coat. apparently he opted not to follow the guy's advice, and there's some rust starting up under the paint. i suppose he'll eventually have to redo the paint.

i didn't shoot it from the back end, which i should have done while my better half was talking him up. had really unique tail lights. rare, he said. after market add-ons from the fifties, that he got lucky and found on ebay from the original owner. original packaging and screws even. some old dude cleaning out his garage. it happens sometimes. anyway, haven't seen another like it anywhere.

so much info, and i had hurried out of the house without my phone, so couldn't type in some quick notes, before the details fell out of my head. so this is the best my recollection of the info. can't remember the engine specs, but the new one will definitely be faster.

very nice guy. kept him talking about his car for a good fifteen minutes. all the while, he kept ignoring his cell phone ringing; hope his girlfriend didn't get too pissed. really appreciated him taking the time to chat. hoping to see him and the car at the dam on new year's day.

i'll put up the other car tomorrow.

i don't like this one

nope. don't like this truck. its not the color—matte, no shine, plus a glitter top. its slightly chopped. simple color, plain hubcaps.

i don't like the lines. i don't like the headlights. there's just something that makes me queasy about it. i suppose it just isn't my cup of tea. no offense to the owner.

but i do like the pinstriping work, which is the only reason i bothered taking a picture of it. it happens sometimes.

something or other

i think it's a customized buick. or a misshapen watermelon. i dunno. its all curvy, and i've never seen another one, unless it was the same one, which is entirely possible, since i get to so many shows with all the same cars, but let me put an end to this run-on sentence here. <breathe>

caught it waiting in line to get in to the uptown whittier show back in august. the later the organizers are getting organized, the more time i have to shoot the sitting ducks in staging. so yay for the disorganizers! sucks for the people waiting. didn't last so long this year, but still got quite a few ducks that day.

chopped liver

saw this and thought, "wtf?" it is interesting. the seat must be down on the floor to drive it, no?

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got my test results back. they found nothing, but there is something going on. i can opt for a second opinion, someone else who will ask for more tests, or just wait and see. i think i'll wait a bit. i'm really tired of the vampires taking my blood every few months anyway.