The Driving Thread

Shakey's did have good pizza back in the '80s.

Went for a walk down to Melrose and on the way back saw this sweet ride bathing in the dying sun.



"Cruisin' down the street in my 6-4 ... "

 

Yeah, Hagerstown had one of those growing up, and it was quite good.

 

"The Dukes of Echo Park" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

 

Found this in the comments ...

 

In the car to my left waiting for the green light at the Fairfax, San Vicente, Olympic amalgam.

 

So this fuckin' guy ...
I was covering a high school softball game today and the guy in the black Mercedes bypassed one parking lot about 100 yards away and another behind this building to pull in front of the building — and right behind the first base bleachers. Meaning he's one easy swing away from a foul ball smashing the windshield of what I assume is about a $50,000 car. The shadow in the foreground is from the pressbox, to give you an idea how close he is.
Oh, but you know there's more.
So he pulls through a packed gravel area off to the left in this picture and into the deep gravel we see here — which is a shot put pit. The school's football stadium and track is adjacent to the field, out of frame to the right. He made it to the edge of the pit and then stuck his front tire over the wooden lip and into mud, and got stuck. He had to call a tow truck, seen here, to winch him out.
The real kicker, though, is that the guy was one of the umpires.
Did everybody in the ballpark make jokes? Bet your ass they did.

And for the record, they played an hourlong JV game before the tow truck arrived and pulled him out. He was lucky the pitchers sucked and walked about half the batters. No foul balls came near his car.

 

Somehow I suspect Big Ethiopia is not quite as fertile.

 

Perhaps the deal is no buildings but all bets off for moving trucks.

As seen today. I've been waiting days to get just the right angle and I think this is it.



On the way home I got the easy left onto San Vicente ...

Right as Weezer comes on the radio.

Dick Whitman thinks Weezer should be in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. I'm not so sure.

But this is a great song.

Got the green at Pico.

Got the green at La Brea.

Windows down, Volume up.

Wind on face, 78 degrees of cloudless sunshine.

This is gonna be the all-green drive.

Until I get the red at Redondo. SAY IT AIN'T SO!

Picture of the truck is funny just because of the queer tire.

Kind of truck you might see in Chico and the Man.

 

Funny this thread should come back up as I’m listening to LA Freeway (Band of Heathens version). Might be the most underrated country classic.

 

Big fan of the JJW version.

 

At a red en route to the gym on a perfect sunny morning and I see this dude lugging bags and shit thru the crosswalk.

What's his name and where's he goin' and what's in the bags, bub, and who's that cutie pie way up in the sky?



An hour later, I didn't get the easy left onto San Vicente.

And the light at Pico was red.



And the light at La Brea was red.



And who's this dude Varma who's a new kind of mayoral dude?



And am I ever gonna stop into Magee's or just fucking dream about the donuts?

And yet another red light but it's such a nice day on San Vicente.



Then a new song comes on the radio and the guitar licks sound just like Jack White.

I really like this. It's thick and manly. Who is this?

There used to be an app called Shazam but I never used it so I turned to my old friend Google.

<<< hits Google mic >>> Who's playing this song?

And then this thing starts happening ...



Jesus Christ, it work.

And then this comes on the screen ...



I don't know why but this littlest of things made me happy.

<<< PHONE, DO WHAT I TELL YOU TO DO AND TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW! >>>

And this song by the Arctic Monkeys ... who I never got into ... no idea why ... is so fucking good and thumps to the bone.

And straight ahead is another perfect cloudless day in L.A.

But time's running out.