Nor Cal Guerrilla Cruise Nov. 12th to San Francisco

Be there! Should be a lot of fun, check the link for details:

Swanx Fall Fiasco 2011, Fairfield, Ca 10/8/11

Swanx Fall Fiasco 2011, Fairfield, Ca 10/8/11

I had a great time at the Swanx show this year. I couldn't have asked for a nicer way to close show season, for me at least, than hanging out with friends and cool cars in a Sheet Metal shop. It seems like bigger car shows this season have been a little down, and while I'm not sure why that is, I've got to say it's made the smaller shows more enjoyable. The Swanx show is one of the great examples of that; you don't need a huge venue or fancy pipe & drape to have a great show. I imagine this is what car culture felt like back in the mid-nineties, it's been a return to smaller more intimate shows where everyone seems to building things in different styles and we can all meet in the middle and hang out for a weekend and compare notes. I love it, it doesn't feel like a scene, it feels like a community.

For me, this was my second car show ever in my Buick, and my first time vending out of it. The car took it well, that huge trunk is perfect for holding a ton of merch.



The car ran pretty well, it handled the load great. I made it with no problems, and had a great time at the show.




I do not get sick of looking at this car. It's so... right.










Holding it down...






This was very much in a Sheet Metal shop:




I love the taillight treatment on this 57:















I had a great time. I couldn't help but be reflective on the past year on the drive home, all in all I accomplished a lot this year. Next year is going to be even better, the initial thrill of getting the car on the road has subsided, and now I'm ready to step it up and take it to the next level. Thanks to everyone who made this happen, it was a blast. Thanks for reading.

Visual Mechanics, Somos Gallery, Salinas, CA 10/7/11

I decided to make the trip down to Salinas to support our friends from Deadend Magazine and checkout this art show at this neat Art Gallery in Downtown Salinas, Ca. I've never really spent much time in Salinas, and I really had no idea what to expect. I'm also not much for art shows, I never really know what to do, so it was all going to be a surprise. I picked up my friends Stoney and Brooke on the way down, and we headed out through some of the most ridiculous traffic I've ever dealt with on the way there.

When we pulled on to Main St, we instantly knew that we were in the right place, the street was packed with hot rods, customs, and lowriders with a turnout and quality that should make any event planner proud. I'm not sure if all of the cars there were from Salinas (in fact I know they weren't, John Parker and Art Rivas made the drive all the way up from around Ventura!), but I do know that people from Salinas build a car with a ton of heart and passion, and it shows. It was a really impressive thing to see, and that was just outside the Somos Gallery!

Inside the gallery was a clean and glowing art gallery packed with incredible photography, great paintings, and cool sculpture. The gallery itself was pretty rad, it had a ton of cool books and those neat vinyl toys you always see in Juxtapose and Hi Fructose. If every gallery had lowrider bikes in the window the world would be a better place. If you're ever out in Salinas, put the Somos Gallery on your absolute must-see list, the Steinbeck Museum can wait.

I'm not too sure what's acceptable when it comes to taking pictures in an art gallery, so I didn't take many pics of the works themselves, so if you can't make it, be sure you check out the artist's online or elsewhere, these guys are some of the best:

Rod Powell
Tim Conder
Deacon
Cole Foster
El Angel
Eric Tapley
Andy Southard Jr.
Alan Signs
April May
Flip
Juan Espinoza Jr.
Jesus Espinoza
Joshua De Leon
Steve Cabellero
Eddie Padilla

Sorry if I left anyone out! Thanks especially to Juan and Jesus at Deadend Magazine and the SOMOS Media & Gallery for making this happen, I had a great time. Enjoy:



















I need to get me a chrome cowboy hat:



What it's all about. Cool cars, great art, and great people. Do yourself a favor and get out and support your local art scene.

RIP Steve Jobs (Updated)

Before, when I said "it's hard to put to words for how this makes me feel", that was a total cop out. I'll try. Doing so will inevitably out me as a total nerd, but if you can see the value in an electronic web-based platform for sharing pictures and thoughts across the world in an instant, I'd ask you to consider yourself one as well. It's ok, you're in good company.

I never met Jobs personally. I've been a Mac user all my life, I learned to type on an Apple II at my elementary school, my family bought the Performa when it became apparent that we needed a computer in the house. My Dad, who was never really a "gadget" guy once brought home a Newton, which was a device way ahead of it's time, and the obvious inspiration for the iPhone I'm writing this on right now (although I'm glad to not be writing in pseudohieroglyphics using a stylus). I learned how to edit photos and film on the eMac, and in fact, most of my schools had all Apple computer labs. I realize this "credibility statement" probably isn't that important, as my Blogger Stats show about 50% of you reading this right now are using an Apple product too, and probably do so for similar reasons.

My Dad and I have, for some reason or another, never been too close, we never did the typical father-son bonding routines. One of the few things that we did, for a moment at least, really connect on was computers. The only thing that we'd do together with regularity in elementary school was to go to Macworld in San Francisco.

For the less nerdy of you reading, you might not understand why a kid would have any interest on going to a computer convention. It's true, things of this nature are typically dry, boring, and souless, but Macworld was different. Apple thrived on creativity, color, and excitement. It was a lot of fun; grown men and women were as passionate about the products that they made for a living as you could imagine, and as a kid, the excitement and fun was contagious. Corporate functions didn't have to be stuffy and dull, and computers didn't have to be gray. And this was all driven and shaped by Steve Jobs.

Jobs taught me, indirectly, of course, that if you find a passion for something you could make it happen. A start-up company started in a garage by college drop out hackers could grow to epic proportions; David could take on Goliath. He taught the world to think different, that form and function are indistinguishable and effectively the same thing, and that the world that we live in can be radically changed and shaped by good ideas and passion. His spirit, enthusiasm, and creativity has had a tremendous impact on how I've chosen to shape my life, and the lives of the people around me. Today, I'll do my part to step up to the plate so as to someday inspire others to do the same. I'm going to push a little harder today. I'm going to say how I feel with a little more conviction, and I'm going to work a little more at shaping the world into something a little more beautiful. Sometimes punkass kids like us can make a difference.

RIP Steve Jobs, your memory and inspiration lives on in me and my generation. You've shown us that we can do it too. We'll make you proud.

This blog was made 100% on Apple products, all photography, editing, and writing this year has been with my iPhone 4. RIP, sir, you will be missed. A hero of mine for many reasons. 



-Sent from my iPhone