Hello, A possible 409 Chevy Impala and a Harley Sportster, all in the same photo? What more could a person want during those 60s timeline activities? We had a powerful 348 motor in our Impala, but not to the power of a 409. Our high school friend had a 409 Biscayne in our last year of school. He “ruled the roost” without even racing late at night. The powerful sound of the motor, the raised hood that showed the 409 motor told all… At the time, we were not into motorcycles of any kind. My brother started to dabble in desert racing motorcycles in 1963, but we were both starting our college endeavors and had only the weekend to go racing far out in the desert. So, cars still rang true for us. But, an activity called surfing was now playing a very important part of both of our lives. Hot rods were being phased out slowly, as the other activities took precedence. Camping along the shorelines, desert overnight racing road trips and as many surf trips as were possible after high school for both of us. Jnaki I just happened to get into photography and surfing, as well as motorcycles in the last two years of college. As difficult as it was to graduate, we still needed some form of weekend action to enjoy our lives at the time. A new stock Harley Sportster was purchased and modified slowly as cash was available. Once I built the back support for my wife, she and I rode together to most weekend fun places for breakfasts or lunch hot spots, along the coast. Our new road trips now took on a different angle during our photo shoot experiences, too. With my camera gear strapped in a backpack to the rear support bar, I arrived at various photo shoots in the Harley to the smiles of the hot rod folks and radical custom motorcycle builders for the day… YRMV (The term and sight of the Harley was heard as "He is one of us..." Ha!) at the same time, arriving at a custom car/hot rod photo shoot was defined when a 327 powered 1940 ford sedan delivery was in place. it was perhaps not as nice as some of the show style hot rods, but at least it was a working photo shoot vehicle that was a part of the whole scene. The back area had its own tie down photo equipment area, several tripods and cases. Now, there was a custom motorcycle to ride to those photo shoots and this 327 powered 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery to drive to the custom car/hot rod photo shoot appointments. Later on, our reliable 65 El Camino did 125k miles of going all over California for those far away photo shoot vacations. And had the team work of my wife driving, while I was in the back empty bed, strapped down to the motorcycle wall hooks so I would not fall down. It also gave us the only way to take action photos with the hot rod or motorcycle in focus. How? 1934 Phaeton in focus while going 20 mph. It was a perfectly clear hot rod photo in action. Both the hot rod and El Camino were going the same speed, same direction on an empty street. Once I had the hot rod in focus, the background was blurry and hot rod clear as day, but showing speed. Instead of waiting at one spot when the hot rod approached to time the so called "still/action" photo specifically at one spot. Example: When the Phaeton got to the tall Juniper trees, take the photo. ... But the car/motorcycle was not always in focus due to the speed.
The Pyramid construction for the Expo 1967. Hello, Of all of the pyramid buildings built since then, Walter Pyramid (Long Beach, USA): Constructed in 1994, this large, 18-story aluminum-clad athletic arena at California State University, Long Beach, is considered a "true" pyramid because its sides are equilateral triangles. When we were going to college, we had to eat our meals in a funky dining room. We also had to sit in a cramped gymnasium with a low roofline to watch the basketball games and volleyball games. Sometimes, the spiked volleyball was dug with such skill and the speed of the hit was so hard that the ball flew up into the rafters. But, it was the hard plank seats that made watching a stand up cheer most of the times. In 1966 we had to walk almost a mile uphill to get to these “close-in” parking spots. The lower campus lost some spots to make the Pyramid compound. In visiting the whole area years later, the Pyramid did make some good changes to the campus, but, on the other hand, gl*** panels caused some concern by the neighbors and overhead flying planes. Now, there are individual seats that make attending games more comfortable and fun. The crowds are still loud and boisterous… college life rolls on for years… Info: Walter Pyramid building on the Long Beach State College campus. If one flies into the nearby Long Beach Airport, the landing pattern always has a treat out of the left side of the plane. In a vast area of bland grey/black homes from the sky, up pops this bright blue structure that stands high over everything in the area. Quite a sight upon landing in a jet. YRMV Jnaki “Billing itself as one of four true pyramids in the United States (the others being the Luxor Las Vegas, the Memphis Pyramid and the lesser-known San Diego Innovation Center) as well as the largest space-frame structure in North America, the $22 million Walter Pyramid at California State University, Long Beach is as sleek — and revered — as multi-function collegiate arenas get.” “Rising dramatically 18 stories above the sprawling CSULB campus, this aluminum-clad cobalt structure with a seating capacity of over 4,000 opened in 1994 as, simply, the Pyramid. (The name change came in 2005 in honor of two major benefactors of the university, Mike and Arline Walter)” Note: Recently, it has since been renamed for a high dollar donor company
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