soviet leica copy

need to learn to develop 35mm film.  have always been curious about this little leica copy and the quality of photos it would produce.

smith corona corsair

typewriter

boots-vietnam

MOD- D.I.Y. kit m-1951 "fishtail" parka & clark's desert boots

at some point i'm going to have to stop wearing this parka as often as i do in cold weather because of the fear of completely destroying it.  it is nearly 60 years old.  this particular parka was manufactured in 1952 for the korean war.  

called "fishtail" for the split at the lower back that looks like a "fishtail".  each side of the split was to be tied between the legs, to the bottom front of the parka to decrease draft in severe weather.  

mods got ahold of them in the early 60s as cheap coveralls to wear around town when riding scoots or just chilling.  covered up those neat carnaby st. shark skin suits so well in the foul british weather.  

in southern california, i get to break this out maybe for a few months a year because the weather never really gets cold enough to justify a jacket that when layered properly is rated to something like 40 below zero.  

if you are into these old mod parkas, look for them on ebay, and look for the real wear as there are fakes being made in china.  real m-1951s in good condition are now going for at a minimum of a few hundred bucks and up to around a grand or so in england and japan.  i should have bought every one that i could get my hands on while i was in high school as the local army surplus store used to sell them for like 40 bucks back then and had tons on the shelf.  pretty rare beast now.

next, i want a genuine british navy convoy coat from wwii (not Wii jackass).

icons.  period.

remington quiet-riter typewriter

japanese statuette (incense burner)

anyone have any idea what this is?  got as a gift from my sister.  found at a thrift store.  got appraised by butterfield & bonhams and they had no idea (at least the guy i spoke to).

swiss rucksack (circa wwII)

fiat 124 sport coupe lightened flywheel, adj. cam gears, aluminum crank pulley, water pump pulley, and lightened auxiliary shaft pulley.

just in.  top left: forged aluminum crankshaft pulley.  5 lbs. in reciprocal mass weight savings.
left: two adjustable camshaft pulleys for dialing in /advancing / retarding camshafts.
center top: forged aluminum water pump pulley.
center bottom:  lightened auxiliary shaft pulley.
right: forged aluminum flywheel.  9.5 lbs. instead of the 22 lb. stock flywheel.  
gross deduction of around 20 lbs. off of the reciprocating mass within the engine of my race car.

if you need fiat or bmw vintage racing parts done up for you, jason miller does one hell of a job.  this shit is beautiful.


check out jason miller's website below:
http://www.millersmule.com/

italian & french car meet-sunset blvd.-fairfax blvd.-canter's deli, pickles, pastrami, corned beef, & sauer kraut

sunday the 7th of november, 2010.  run out to the san gabriel valley to check out the best of france and italy car show with my dad.  probably about 200-300 cars.  it is always fun to see guys running fiat otto vu zagatos (maybe 3 or 4 ever made, and worth well north of a million bucks) on the freeways with afternoon traffic and honda civics.  run through hollywood, down fairfax to get pastrami and corned beef sandwiches at canter's deli.

olmec art and artifact exhibit at lacma-los angeles.

jaguar statue.

giant olmec head.

anthropomorphic were-baby (as in werewolf, but these are mixes of jaguars supposedly).

possum pitcher.

the above two statues are a set of twins, most likely foreshadowing the "hero twins" theme carried throughout meso-america.

anthropomorphic were-person representation with fire eyebrows (poss. indication of shamanic drug usage).

don't know much about this guy, but probably my favorite piece in the exhibit.

worlds oldest soccer ball.  circa 1600-1500 b.c.e. (yes folks, that is a 3,500 year old ball).

these figurines were found in a grave.  i studied them in school about a year and a half ago, and wish i paid more attention now.

the olmec civilization existed from roughly 1800 b.c.e. to 400 b.c.e., and if you count a few outposts, 400 c.e.  amazing.  if you are in the l.a. area and you give a crap about old boring stuff like this, you should check it out as it is pretty damn cool. 

oh yeah, after i went to this exhibit, i went to canter's deli on fairfax.  canter's is the best damn deli (at least outside of nyc), and my camera died, so photos some other time.