Monday, December 28, 2015

Julian - Our Portraits

 We wrapped up the day with dinner at Bailey Barbecue, a much welcomed break where we were able to sit next to the heater and warm our weary bones.  Here is a great portrait of Ron and Mary.
 An equally great portrait of Dave and Lucy.
 My gorgeous wife.
 A smiling Teo.
 Troy

Julian - Moms Pie Shop

 We spent the last Sunday of the year in Julian with our sons, daughters-in-law, and grandsons.  The line for Mom's apple pie was over 2 hours long, but Ron graciously volunteered to stand in line while the rest of us shopped.  I joined him in line as he approached the doorway, and this is what the inside looked like.
 The staff was selling pies as fast as they could make them.  It was a very cold day, high of 45 degrees, so a piece of warm apple pie sounded great to everyone.  We bought two pies to take home, and four slices to eat right away.
 And they were making them as fast as possible.

Opening Gifts

 We had a great time opening gifts this year.  Here are Teo and Troy at the start of the unwrapping.

 Gifts from Ron and Mary - two hands.


 Cooper was even in on the celebration.



 Troy and Teo bought Cooper a red toy.   He loved it!  Immediately took it out back to get acquainted!




 Like a hunter displaying his trophy catch.



 Once the initial novelty of the toy wore off, Cooper was off to find Troy in order to coax him into playing.
 It worked.




Holiday Party

My beautiful wife at her company's holiday party, held at Seaport Village.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

LA Auto Show - Alfa Romeo Guilia and Fiat 124 Spider

We went to the LA Auto Show last week, and really enjoyed a number of vehicles.   First up:  The new 2017 Alfa Romeo Guilia.   A beautiful car, and to my eye the medium gray looked the best (they had FOUR Guilias on display!).
 This angle shows off the curvature of the side pretty well - it looks much better in person than in photos.
 An intriguing 3/4 angle.
 The interior is nice also.
 Probably my favorite angle on it.
 The blue I didn't like as well.  Too bright maybe?  And the boy racer wheels don't cut it for me.
 In the right red, the Guilia could really be sharp.  Unfortunately I don't think this is the right red.  Too basic for me...would rather something more metallic / candy apple.



 But the car that really captured my heart at the show as the new 2017 Fiat 124 Spider.  Absolutely magnificent!
 I even liked it in the bright blue - a better shade than the Guilia's blue.
 And though I'm typically not partial to white, the metallic white was superb on this car.
 Okay, I'm going to bore you with a few shots of the 124...I couldn't pick my favorite angle so I'm posting them all!  I think the design is darn near perfect...this car will become a timeless classic.  Even moreso that the original 124, in my opinion.




 There were a few custom cars at the show too, such as this Galpin Mustang convertible.
 ...As a hardtop...
 The Galpin GTR1.

A resto-mod 1970 Chevrolet Camaro.  Very tasteful, love the new grill it really adds a lot to the design.  In the background is the 2017 Camaro - a totally new design.  You can see that males were swarming it, so I couldn't get a good shot of it.  Judging by the crowd around it, I'd say it is going to sell very well...

And finally, a video of the 124.  To truly understand the beauty, I think you have to see movement of the lines as this video tries to portray.  Unfortunately uploading to Youtube loses video quality, because the original video that I have is quite stunning.