New York August 2022 Meet-Up

[Calzone]

Out of the blue my friend Tim called. This is a guy who is an Idiot Savant on the guitar that has the vibe and feel for all styles of guitar. This is also a guy who was missing for a summer and later I would discover was living in a tent studying gypsy guitar with descendants of Dango Reinheart.

We have been in contact over the phone, but I have not seen him in person for several years. Today we will meet-up at “Rudy’s” in Scarsdale, not so far away from Peekskill. Scarsdale is a town that likely has the best schools in all of Westchester, is kind of a professional community of doctors and lawyers, that has muy high taxes that are crazy.

Rudy was the “God Father” of 48th Street in Manhattan back in the day when 48th Street was a Musician’s Row. For a city block there was one music store after another: Sam Ash, Gracin’s Music, Alex Axe, We Buy Guitars, Rudy’s Music, and many others.

Today there are no music shops on 48th Street, Rudy set up a boutique guitar shop in SoHo, and now he has a shop in the affluent community of Scarsdale. Rudy is a vintage guitar dealer and carries the boutique and high end. Perhaps the only thing I don’t like about Rudy’s are the prices because they are top dollar.

It will be great to see Tim. It’s been a couple of years so I think I will kidnap him and bring him to Peekskill.

When I told him about the Chevy C10, he imagined it having a crazy and powerful V-8 because of my legendary Jeep Scrambler.

Tim’s day-job is being a doorman at a building downtown on the west side. He works nights, and pretty much he can play guitar all night in the lobby. How cool is that?

In conversation Tim mentions that he uses a Schwann Varsity that weighs about 38 pounds. It’s color is green like my truck and it’s vintage is 1978. BTW Tim never has owned a car. Not sure if he has a license to drive.

Anyways this guy is a legend. I often think if he had my personality that he would be big-time because certainly he has the talent. He plays out at world class venues like Irridium. He is not a “frontman” which I seem to be innately.

Tim had enough talent when he was 15, when I first met him, that I felt like going home and smashing all my guitars. At that time Tim told me actually only was playing guitar for about 2 years and that he really was a drummer. When he told me that I felt sick to my stomach.

Then more than a decade later I’m on the subway, I hear someone call out my name, and it was Tim.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Had a great day with Tim. At Rudy’s Tim tried out and bought a guitar.

Then Rudy came in and engaged with us. I got to know Rudy on a personal level as he revealed how he came to NYC from Argentina in his early 20’s and decide not to go home. He work at Alex Ax doing repairs for 3-4 years and then at the age of 27 in 1978 he opened up a shop on 48th Street on the second floor.

Then there were all the name dropping because Rudy knew and dealt with so many household names of famous people. He was very gracious in giving up the smut and back story. Anyways an impressive man who many say was the God Father of 48th Street back in the day.

Now Rudy owns two guitar boutiques: one in SoHo; another in Scarsdale.

Anyways seeing Tim is always great. I know him since he was a punk kid of 15, and now he is 48.

I got the chance to show Tim some of my gear and the experience of playing through some coveted vintage gear. What was most impressive was hearing him play my two Santa Cruz acoustics. Very different playing and hearing someone else play a high ended guitar. Anyways the old OM I own is kinda played in, so it has this remarkable open sound.

So Tim revealed to me that in an interview Tommy Emanuel said that practicing pretty much annoys other people and the only people that are not annoyed are the people practicing. Tommy Emanuel says that you need a space where you can be all alone. Pretty much I need a sound proof room.

I inquired today when my new custom built Santa Cruz might be delivered. Santa Cruz only makes about 400 guitars a year, so it could be later this year, or maybe even next year. Not that there is a deadline, but it would be great to have a general idea of when my guitar might be done.

Then I have to ping on my friend Cris to get my 50’s style tele back, and then there is the 18 inch arch topped guitar that is being built out…

Cal

 

[fiddle]

Heyoooo, Just reading through the thread, havent been on here in a bit. Ill try and make it, have to check my schedule hopefully its between work travel. Been spending so much time with the 4x5, havent showed the M2 much love lately.

 

[Calzone]

Heyoooo, Just reading through the thread, havent been on here in a bit. Ill try and make it, have to check my schedule hopefully its between work travel. Been spending so much time with the 4x5, havent showed the M2 much love lately.

Fidel,

I think you will like the camera known as “The Devil Christian.” Pretty much a fixed focus 28mm FOV 4x5 set at 2 meters focus made of Linhof parts.

Photographically I’m kinda skitzed out.

Love that I have an Audi A4, and a 1966 Chevy Rat-Rod. Dreaming of eventually building up a high reving I-6 screamer to install in it that has a bumpy idle.

Seems like I forgot that one of my trademarks is to be loud and crazy, so I have to keep and maintain my branding, image and reputation…

Yesterday I got a pair of 30 tooth chain rings that are elliptical and have a Wolf Tooth profile to avoid chain dropping. This odd tiny chain ring will allow me to have an UBER low gear for climbing at Blue Mountain. I think I will set up the steel IBIS as a 1x11 with a 17 inch low. Pretty much one rev of the cranks equals moving forward only 17 inches.

This should also make it easier to track stand and learn trials maneuvers. Pretty much riding a rigid is so hard core at Blue Mountain that I think this is the way to go. Also because I’m such a skinny bitch that this is an advantage I need to exploit to my advantage. My friend A.J. Said riding the IBIS as a rigid will either make me or break me. Pretty much I don’t need to spend $12K on a carbon fiber full suspension IBIS Exie.

Anyways this will allow me to go gonzo on building out the truck.

I also realize that I need to build out the darkroom as a sound proof room so I have a place to woodshed on guitar. Now with a full garage that means doing it in the basement. I have the front porch basement, and I have one possible open area that makes sense to create a room. So I have choices on space, but most likely I will build out two separate rooms to have more space.

So all my obsessive thinking actually is leading me into some sensible thinking that are clever solutions to exploit my limited resources.

Earlier this week I moved a mini home Cheapo I had set up in half my driveway. Pretty much a hill billy eyesore in my dead end of piles of gardening supplies like bails of peat moss, compost, and top soil. Pretty much I just moved them around to clear things out for the shed that might come from Canada in the next week and a half.

Pretty much I’ll have another new hill billy eyesore pretty soon in my driveway. Know that my Jeep Scrambler sounded like a Cigarette boat at idle. Had a manual choke because I don’t like automatic chokes. The long tube headers fed into 2 1/2 inch pipes that connected to separate Flow Master low restriction mufflers with tailpipes out the back. This exhaust system was muy macho and kinda loud even at idle. Sounded mucho muscular, but the best tone was under full acceleration, so musical, and basically the Jeep sounded like a Nascar in top gear on the straight away.

I love that sound, but perhaps my neighbors won’t. LOL. Oh what fun. EZ-PZ to build a Chevy 250 320 HP, 275 foot pounds of torque, that revs to 6500 RPM. That’s with a crappy Edelbrock 4 barrel. I don’t like Quadrojets and think a Holley double pumper would be better, but even better would be a pair of Webber two barrel 38/38’s. The dual Webers seem to be the way to go, and it would look evil.

”Evil Calvin,” they say…

They say you know you are a hill billy when half the cars you own are not running, and pretty much the Chevy is just being stored for safe keeping until I decide to get crazy and begin by taking off the head and shipping it out, replacing the leaking rear main seal (an ugly and dirty job, and likely having to replace an oil soaked clutch.

Then I have to install at least front disc brakes to make the truck road worthy. Also know it needs a set of tires, the current tires are dry rotted and are worn. I do know that the truck because of its remarkable OEM condition kinda turns heads. As far as Rat-Rods go this one is mucho OEM and so factory original. I’m cool with just driving it that way for a long time, meanwhile I can get ready for the engine that will be a screamer with a macho bumpy idle that chugs then whines.

Retirement is great.

Evil Calvin

 

[MrFujicaman]

Hey Cal !

Devil Dan just posted that B & H has sale on stainless 220 developing reels today-99 cents each till midnight. If you need some-get em today!

 

[Nokton48]

Devil Dan bought TWENTY 99 Cents each $6.00 shipping for his 8x10 Basket Line. Heh-Heh.😡 Have several baskets to hold these. Grab some and a few spares. Cheap as dirt

General Brand 220 Stainless Steel Reel NP10112 B&H Photo Video (bhphotovideo.com)

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Cal, be careful with those oval chainrings. There is a reason that Shimano stopped using them for a few decades, it's because they can cause knee pain and injury. If your body is used to round chainrings, that's what your knees are conditioned for. When switching to oval rings, you can have a "slack" zone in your rotation which can effectively lead to a no-load situation in your knee and then a "slap" when you exert more pressure. You're also going to be exerting pressure within the knee at different locations of the joint itself which have not been conditioned to the repetitive force of the new rings. It's not a matter of teeth in the ring, it's a matter of radius. Take one leg and a 30 tooth oval ring which, on the perigee of the rotation acts like a 28 tooth and at the apogee acts like a 32 tooth. You would never think of switching between 28 and 32 tooth rings according to position in crank rotation. Granted, you have the other leg applying force as well, but the problem is that it's still applying force at apogee, so both knees have that slack time during rotation. This would be like a torque converter locking then slipping once every rotation of an engine crank. Or perhaps more like a true clutch slipping and allowing a half crank rotation of unlimited speed on the engine. It would create a sawing effect in the motor. Anyway, if you're a high cadence spinner, then round rings tend to be better. If you're a masher, then ovals can add very limited benefit. At your age, you may want to stick with the crank rotational force and cadence that your body has conditioned maximum efficiency from over the last 40-some years. We don't get to rebuild any of the connective tissues in our knees after our 20s. My dad had a knee replacement about 4 months ago and now has two bits of titanium and some nylon holding his leg together, he's still doing physical therapy and has to take it easy on the knee. This, in a guy who is like Indiana Jones; went on a 100 mile backpacking honeymoon 42 years ago, has backpacked, hiked and biked across most of the continent west of the Mississippi, so inactivity is not the problem.
Anyway, take care of your knees and if you go with those oval rings, get them fit correctly then get your saddle height, angle, and fore-aft position correctly fit by a professional with a fitting rig. Remember that your handlebar shape, height, angle, and width have just as much to do with your saddle as well. And watch your neck too. I have C5-7 stenosis from an injury in Iraq but heavily exacerbated by competitive cycling. Now I have to ride almost fully upright.

Phil Forrest

 

[Calzone]

Hey Cal !

Devil Dan just posted that B & H has sale on stainless 220 developing reels today-99 cents each till midnight. If you need some-get em today!

MFM,

I have mucho SS developing reels, enough to fill a 3 1/2 gallon tank.

Thanks for the heads up though.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Cal, be careful with those oval chainrings. There is a reason that Shimano stopped using them for a few decades, it's because they can cause knee pain and injury. If your body is used to round chainrings, that's what your knees are conditioned for. When switching to oval rings, you can have a "slack" zone in your rotation which can effectively lead to a no-load situation in your knee and then a "slap" when you exert more pressure. You're also going to be exerting pressure within the knee at different locations of the joint itself which have not been conditioned to the repetitive force of the new rings. It's not a matter of teeth in the ring, it's a matter of radius. Take one leg and a 30 tooth oval ring which, on the perigee of the rotation acts like a 28 tooth and at the apogee acts like a 32 tooth. You would never think of switching between 28 and 32 tooth rings according to position in crank rotation. Granted, you have the other leg applying force as well, but the problem is that it's still applying force at apogee, so both knees have that slack time during rotation. This would be like a torque converter locking then slipping once every rotation of an engine crank. Or perhaps more like a true clutch slipping and allowing a half crank rotation of unlimited speed on the engine. It would create a sawing effect in the motor. Anyway, if you're a high cadence spinner, then round rings tend to be better. If you're a masher, then ovals can add very limited benefit. At your age, you may want to stick with the crank rotational force and cadence that your body has conditioned maximum efficiency from over the last 40-some years. We don't get to rebuild any of the connective tissues in our knees after our 20s. My dad had a knee replacement about 4 months ago and now has two bits of titanium and some nylon holding his leg together, he's still doing physical therapy and has to take it easy on the knee. This, in a guy who is like Indiana Jones; went on a 100 mile backpacking honeymoon 42 years ago, has backpacked, hiked and biked across most of the continent west of the Mississippi, so inactivity is not the problem.
Anyway, take care of your knees and if you go with those oval rings, get them fit correctly then get your saddle height, angle, and fore-aft position correctly fit by a professional with a fitting rig. Remember that your handlebar shape, height, angle, and width have just as much to do with your saddle as well. And watch your neck too. I have C5-7 stenosis from an injury in Iraq but heavily exacerbated by competitive cycling. Now I have to ride almost fully upright.

Phil Forrest

Phil,

Thanks for the heads up. I too as I have aged sit more upright, but not fully upright. I also think I have grown in experience to have a better understanding of the dynamics and balance issues I’m facing.

I’m definitely adjusting the impact to lower thresholds, and pretty much conceded to being a slow rider that will develop more and better bike handling skills and a more acutely sense of balance. I do realize that my body is aging, recovery is slower, and I have to be more gentile.

One reason why I’m avoiding a full suspension bike is I don’t want to go fast because speed kinda promotes likely injury. I just want to stay on the peddles and go slow. I feel no shame in riding the brakes on the downhills to stay safe. Going gonzo like in the old days is just plain foolish. I just want to be able to pick lines and stay on the bike. A kind of elegant finesse way of riding that I hope will be smooth and clean.

Kinda funny how biking is like guitar: slowing down allows one to play faster, but on the slip side nothing wrong with playing slow. Anyways modern trials technics involve lots of track standing, meaning standing still, and hopping on over wheel or another or both wheels sideways. To me playing slow has legs, is less risky, and is least likely to lead to injury.

I think the 1/4 inch rearward seat adjustment offers a better CG for balance, lightens the front wheel, and offers better traction. I can see how oval chainrings though on a road bike is likely a bad idea. What you say speaks to me and my experience, but I think on a mountain bike it is worth an experiment.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

For all you not bike nerds, you need to understand how inch gears is like measuring a step, but in bike terms it is a full revolution of the crank.

Say because I’m a New Yorker when I walk fast I take a large step on level ground and say cover about 36 inches with each step, on a bike this would be 36 “Inch Gear.”

So when I create an UBER low gear of 17 inches, one rotation of the crank only moves the bike forward 17 inches by gearing alone.

So imagine you are on a trail and it is a steep climb, pretty hard to walk up a steep hill taking a 36 inch step, but without thinking we take a much smaller step to have the power to lift us up, because we are not only moving forward but also upwards.

So using this analogy one can understand why lower gears are less taxing, and the gearing actually lowers the stress and strain on the muscles. Anyways any gearing below 20 inch gears is UBER low.

Now imagine being on a road in West Virginia on a mountain bike in your 20 inch gear lowest gear struggling on a long climb for 15-20 minutes just trying to stay on the peddles, because if you stop pretty much you will have to walk the bike. This was a grueling torment because we parked my Jeep at the end of a trailhead called Tea Creek, and we had to get up to the beginning of the trailhead to actually begin pretty much a ride of my lifetime.

Iron Mike was with me and we cursed, yelled and shouted for the pain and strain to end, but basically the trail head came upon us after what seemed like endless agony.

Tea Creek was a trail cut into the side of a rugged mountain. On one side was basically a cliff, and on the other basically a wall you had to avoid brushing your handlebars against because the trail was mucho narrow. Pretty much you had to continually modulate your speed on the brakes to stay in control as you stood on your peddles and kept your weight back.

The trails snaked around and down for a long time and was the coolest experience I ever had. Kinda like being a surfer off of Portugal being towed by a jet ski to 55-60 MPH so you could surf a 60-80 foot wave.

Mucho crazy, but also fun. LOL.

So here I am a 64 1/2 year old man slowing down, learning new skill sets, and enjoying my old school mountain bikes that are now full blown antiques. Mighty cool. Also know I am riding on history of when mountain bikes were first invented. Muy retro.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Devil Christian in another thread posted an image of Ansel Adams with a truck rigged with a platform so that AA could set up a tripod to shoot his 8x10 Dearborf.

Anyways it was suggested that I should do that with my 1966 Chevy C10. So the idea kinda set in that when I put the C10 on the road that it would be mighty ghetto to basically start performing “drive-by-shootings.” Anyways this is a play on the world we live in.

So pretty much I’m game with picking up one or two people from the Peekskill train station and driving around to shoot. Pretty much a different way of “street shooting.”

I know there are places where I would want to shoot again and again just to capture the right light because the subject or image is worthy. Pretty much create a circuit of sorts.

Anyways, is this a crazy idea? I kinda like it. Open searching, exploring, and attempting to discover a wonderful sense of light.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

We escaped the heat wave by driving up to Beacon early. The drive was very short, only about 15-20 minutes because there were no lame clueless drivers acting like tourist driving well below the speed limit (like doing 40 in a 55 MPH zone).

I was reminded of our field trip to Eastern State Penatentuary because I bought a very cool T-shirt about the Matteanwan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Women kinda like the bad boys, so I was compelled to buy the shirt in a unusual turquoise color in a size small. This institution was in operation from 1892-1977, and currently it is the Fishkill Correctional Facility.

Not far away from Peekskill is another correctional facility in Ossining that is know as Sing-Sing.

Anyways kinda goes with my branding as a bad-boy. LOL.

Also perhaps is why Snarky Joe and Devil Christian say that I tend to draw out the “crazies of New York.” “Takes one to know one,” I say. LOL.

Anyways it was Open Studios in Beacon, but I found the art presented not to be high art or fine art. Still it was nice to go shopping. One thing I did notice was over pricing and gouge factor in the boutique stores. We bought two Asian style bowls, also tea that was boutique, and Maggie bought a refreshing linen dress that makes a heat wave less severe.

Did a tour of Garrison which is a town that basically is only a train station on the Hudson River where it appears to have 4-5 acre zoning and highly probable crazy taxes. Very pretty, rustic, rural, and affluent.

Also stopped in Cold Spring… Had a second breakfast (breakfast burrito).

The drive along the Hudson on 9D is kinda wonderful for high speed driving. One of the great things about living in Peekskill.

I kinda find that there is a lot of Brooklyn flavor in Peekskill as well as in Beacon. The mucho attractive girl where Maggie bought her linen dress I profiled as a runway model. In conversation I found out she was Danish (tall blond with a mucho sleek build) who formally was a model and had walked in runway shows. Anyways she had lived in Bed Sty and also was a Covid Refugee from NYC who relocated to Beacon.

BTW Dana pretty much was stunning looking.

Cold Spring is a nice town, but I would not want to pay the higher taxes there. Pretty much too suburban. A bit stale for me.

I thought of the City of Hudson as kinda like an extension of Greenwich Village. Pretty much a gay community, mucho art galleries, and refined boutiques.

Then there is Kingston which formally once was the capitol of New York. Even way upstate there is this Brooklyn vibe where young people are moving.

Anyways NYC at its peak, before the pandemic, basically it was the huge influx of young people and their energy that made NYC great.

Anyways there are towns, but the places I like are the cities. Peekskill, Beacon, Kingston, Hudson and Newburgh are all river cities and not suburban towns.

Newburgh is just across the Hudson from Beacon, and it is a large city with of course bigger problems. The gentrification and redevelopment lags way behind, but it seems to be the last frontier.

If I ever win the lottery I would consider buying a storefront in Newburgh as a studio space. Not too far from Peekskill. Note that there is a bridge that crosses the Hudson River that connects Beacon and Newburgh. BTW Annie Lieborwitz lives on a farm near Newburgh.

Cal

 

[MrFujicaman]

Devil Christian in another thread posted an image of Ansel Adams with a truck rigged with a platform so that AA could set up a tripod to shoot his 8x10 Dearborf.

Anyways it was suggested that I should do that with my 1966 Chevy C10. So the idea kinda set in that when I put the C10 on the road that it would be mighty ghetto to basically start performing “drive-by-shootings.” Anyways this is a play on the world we live in.

So pretty much I’m game with picking up one or two people from the Peekskill train station and driving around to shoot. Pretty much a different way of “street shooting.”

I know there are places where I would want to shoot again and again just to capture the right light because the subject or image is worthy. Pretty much create a circuit of sorts.

Anyways, is this a crazy idea? I kinda like it. Open searching, exploring, and attempting to discover a wonderful sense of light.

Cal

Which thread did Christian post that image in,Cal?

 

[Calzone]

Which thread did Christian post that image in,Cal?

MFM,

I believe it was in the older NYC August thread that Snarky Joe mentioned would cause confusion. It was in that mucho long thread that I began raving with excitement about acquiring the 1966 Chevy C10.

Every time I open the garage the C10 makes me smile. Mighty clean and OEM for 1966. Definitely will turn heads.

Saw a few classic cars in Beacon: a huge 80’s Cadi; a 40’s roadster; and a early 70’s boxy/square small box Chevy Fleetside that was lowered. None of them Rat-Rods though.

I think my Rat-Rod is a lot cooler.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Tomorrow I visit the wound doctor again. I expect the visit will be just a fly-by.

I have the materials to start rebuilding screens. The house has 40 windows and about half have holes. Pretty much a lot of work.

Also have motion detection lights on hand to replace tired old versions.

Cal

 

[MrFujicaman]

MFM,

I believe it was in the older NYC August thread that Snarky Joe mentioned would cause confusion. It was in that mucho long thread that I began raving with excitement about acquiring the 1966 Chevy C10.

Every time I open the garage the C10 makes me smile. Mighty clean and OEM for 1966. Definitely will turn heads.

Saw a few classic cars in Beacon: a huge 80’s Cadi; a 40’s roadster; and a early 70’s boxy/square small box Chevy Fleetside that was lowered. None of them Rat-Rods though.

I think my Rat-Rod is a lot cooler.

Cal

Okay, that's Ansel's pre-WW2 Pontiac station wagon as the photo is dated 1946. They restarted car production in the fall of 1946 as I recall.

 

[Calzone]

Okay, that's Ansel's pre-WW2 Pontiac station wagon as the photo is dated 1946. They restarted car production in the fall of 1946 as I recall.

MFM,

Seems like I’m migrating in that direction. Devil Christian I think is predicting the future. Also I think I will get a bike rack to do some bike shooting.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Got a clean bill of health from the wound doctor. Did you know I’m 5’10”, 143 pounds and have a BMI of 20.5.

Part of my dinner included Arugala from my own garden. Had an earthy taste. Generally when I eat salad it has no taste.

A curtain for the pergola came that mounts to the top and filters out the UV. Interesting how a breeze and thermal gradient is formed by this material. Cuts down the intensity of the sun quite a bit.

I gassed up the Audi for the Sunday Meet-Up.

I called my friend Cris to inquire about a guitar he has of mine that had work not completed, and I learned one of our friend’s farther is in a VA hospital with Covid as a precaution. There seems to be some memory problems, and I hope it was not a result from a stroke. I’ll learn more Thursday.

Looks like one of the doors I ordered came in. Likely the rear wooden door for the kitchen. I moved some potted blueberry bushes away from the garage to make room for the shed that got shipped today. Still too early to track.

I got an e-mail that the custom ordered Santa Cruz might be ready in about 10 weeks. This is pretty exciting. I’ll basically have another Model “F” mini jumbo guitar, but instead of being all mahogany it will have a red spruce top and the mahogany on this custom guitar as well as the red spruce is all old growth wood that is a hundred years old.

Cal

 

[Range-rover]

MFM,

I believe it was in the older NYC August thread that Snarky Joe mentioned would cause confusion. It was in that mucho long thread that I began raving with excitement about acquiring the 1966 Chevy C10.

Every time I open the garage the C10 makes me smile. Mighty clean and OEM for 1966. Definitely will turn heads.

Saw a few classic cars in Beacon: a huge 80’s Cadi; a 40’s roadster; and a early 70’s boxy/square small box Chevy Fleetside that was lowered. None of them Rat-Rods though.

I think my Rat-Rod is a lot cooler.

Cal

Any pictures?

 

[Calzone]

Any pictures?

Bob,

In that almost year long thread are some pictures. The one MFM and I are talking about is a B&W shot of Ansel Adams and a station wagon that was part of his 8x10 rig.

Pretty much Devil Christian is suggesting that I start doing “drive by shootings” up here in the burbs. This is not a bad idea. Also the C10 has “Calzone-Factor” that suggests perhaps a bit of crazy, a sense of adventure, and maybe is a sign of immaturity that is part of my branding. Anyways it will draw attention and likely draw out the crazies which kinda is my trademark.

Cruising around with a camera anyways seems like fun. As well as a great idea.

One idea is to basically do, publicity shots to promote people. Pretty much “stop and shoot” where perhaps I could use the camera known as “The Devil Christian” set up on a tripod to do a street portrait. The truck could be an icebreaker and a way introduce or approach someone. Then I generally worm my way into smut to know and understand an individual that was once just a total stranger.

I guess I would have to post images, and hand out cards. In a way I’m not unlike my own ambassador promoting myself, my work, and pretty much giving a voice to “the man on the street” which is a term from journalism school, where you randomly interview a stranger to add to a news story.

So maybe my Master’s in TV Broadcast Journalism was not a waste. LOL.

Did you know that Devil Christian has called the way I shoot as “performative.” I guess the decade I once was a drama queen and performance artist comes into play.

There is also a video that “Maggie” did of how one night in an after dinner walk we stumbled upon an old green Ford pickup, and how that led to me buying an equally old green Chevy pickup.

Interesting to know that the shorter bed trucks are valued more, and the full sized Fleetside pickups tend to be work trucks because of their utility. As usual I am counter trend, but I wonder if this trend is supported by the notion that short bed trucks are in higher demand because or just became more popular because they are/were less worn out and a better base to begin creating a hot rod.

The fact is that the full sized long bed trucks were a more expensive truck to order. Anyways my truck is in remarkable OEM condition, the original green paint is faded and displays a wonderful “patina,” and camera related it is like an original black paint Leica that displays some gentle honest wear. My truck is not a “shelf queen.” LOL.

Anyways the 1966 Chevy C10 surely adds to my branding and it won’t be long before it becomes a trademark. Already my neighbors took notice when it was parked in my driveway for just a few weeks until I cleaned out the garage so I could protect it from the elements to preserve the great condition which can be easily called “a barn find.”

My mailman and the UPS driver also mention how they love my truck. How cool is that?

“Muy retro,” I say.

It seems every morning I see the Ground Hog in our back-backyard on out lawn. Seems to follow a schedule.

Cal