I was there Friday and Saturday. Friday I helped Herb Martinez (my mentor and a friend) in his booth. I originally thought that another friend of his was arriving later and I'd head to the panel jam, but it didn't work out that way so I was there for the duration. No problem, I pulled out my paints and did some striping in his booth. It was a lot of fun, really. Herb's a total HAM! He knows how to be quite social, so I call it learning at the Herb Martinez School of Shmoozing.
Here's Herb's booth. And Herb. What a ham!
I can't remember the guy's name, but I believe he is the one running the show. He was also running around with a microphone, interviewing various participants in the show. Naturally he had to interview Herb.
Cool thing about where Herb was set up is right next to him was the legendary Bill Hines. It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet him!
Yours truly, cheesin' with Bill:
If you don't know who Bill Hines is, let's just say this guy has forgotten more about lead work on auto bodies than most people today know!
This is but one example of his work:
Amazing, isn't it?
I wasn't chained to the booth the entire night, so I did a little wandering around. Lots of shiny and not so shiny pretties on 4 wheels in this place!
A '37 Zephyr:
Pardon me while I DROOL!!
A pace truck:
A race truck:
Johnny Benson's Toyota Tundra. Only a couple more weeks until NASCAR's season begins again! WOOOHOOO!!
A dragster truck:
Couple old pickups:
Some muscle cars:
And lots of other beauties.
The next day I was at the panel jam. ALL day. I was there at 8am, left at 10pm. I got to meet a lot of great guys who have been striping for years!
Guys like the legendary Tom Kelly:
Tom sat me down and gave me a demo on why a #1 or #2 Sword Striper is better than the #000 dagger I have been using. Suffice it to say it was a very jaw dropping, eye opening experience. I'm grateful he took the time to give me a demo like he did. Thanks, Tom! So now I'm practicing with an actual sword striper too. Its a completely different animal from the dagger.
Coop and Mitch:
These guys are a kick!
TBonez and Mr. J:
PeeWee:
John "Deadman's Hand" Frankel:
And quite a few great guys that I didn't get pictures of. East Coast Artie being one of them.
But ironically all we kept hearing about over the PA when they mentioned the panel jam was Herb... and he wasn't even at the panel jam! I'm not quite sure how the 'Herbie Herbie' joke started, but it kept going throughout the day.
Somebody made a lettered comment about it on the table:
And then a running tally about how many times Herb's name was mentioned got started. Notice how many times Herbie Herbie's name was mentioned opposed to Coop's, Artie's and even Tom's!:
Herb thought it was pretty funny.
I painted these up before the show and donated them for the auction:
two sides of a 1.75 l. Jack Daniel's bottle.
The other 2 sides:
And painted this while I was there:
Its a magnum sized wine bottle that was from my boss' vineyard. I know the auctioneer's wife was eyeballing it. I wonder if she got it?
There was also a donated Chevy Lumina that all the stripers added some art to. This was my contribution:
Lastly, the Mother's wax guy talked me into painting his laptop:
I hope it survived the trip since he had to split for Arizona the next day and the paint was still wet when they left he Cow Palace.
All together I believe the auction made $25,000 for the Make A Wish Foundation.
What a great time! I was bloody exhausted the following the day, but I can't wait to do it again!
1 comment:
It was a kick meeting you too! I hope we can all do it again real soon. Besides, Coop need his In and Out fix. Keep sling'in that paint lady.
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