West Coast Weekends Pt2 - Van Nuys Blvd. Cruise Night

After a day at the Venice beach, it was time to head back to the Valley for Van Nuys Blvd, Cruise Night. Unfortunately, I got there late. And, I still had to go walk and feed my aunt's dogs. So I wasn't able to stay long. But I did manage to get some shots worth sharing. I even got a couple of light trail shots that I'm really happy with. There were a bunch of car clubs there, that night. And I got invited to a couple of the car club's picnics that are coming up. So there will be a lot more lowrider images here in the weeks to come. In the mean time, though, here are my favorites from last weekend...

Thanks for checkin' out Bsombin'! Make sure to check back soon for more lowriders, west coast stories, and more!

West Coast Weekends Pt1 - Venice Beach

Happy Summer! And thanks for checking out the blog! Although today is the "official first day of Summer", I got a head start and made last weekend my un-offical start of Summer. And what better way to start Summer than with a trip to the beach, right? Truthfully, I'm not a big fan of the beach. But I got an invitation to my friend Angela's birthday. And it just so happened to be at Venice Beach...

As expected, Venice was packed! From the freeways to the backstreets, to the boardwalk, traffic was crazy! I got lucky, though... I found a place to park on the street, near Abbot Kinney, and just walked to the beach. I took the camera and shot a few pics, along the way, too. The invite I got just said the party would be "on the beach between the pier and tennis courts." So it took me a while to find the party... After walking from the tennis courts to the pier and back, I couldn't find the party. I actually walked past it twice. But, when I did, I didn't see Angela or anyone I recognized and kept walking. It turned out that I only knew one other person besides Angela at the party, when I finally figured out where the party was. But, I did find it, after getting lost for a bit. I didn't mind being a little lost, since I had my camera, though. I'd been wanting to shoot the skaters at the skate park, for a while, too. So, while I was lost, I took some time to walk over and get some shots of the skaters that were at the park. A few of the guys there were really sick and ripped! But shooting them was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I still got some shots worth sharing. But it took a minute to figure out the settings to use and how to time the shots. Definitely something I want to do a lot more of, though...

After the party, it was time to head back to the Valley to go to the Van Nuys Blvd. cruise night to check out the lowriders...

D.T.L.A. with A.L.L.

Thanks for checkin' out Bsombin'! Took a trip to DTLA, with Jefore (my brother-from-another-mother), to get some tacos from a great little spot in Grand Central Market called Roast To Go. Honestly, I haven't tried anything besides the asada tacos, because their asada is amazing! It's more like a slow cooked brisket that's tender and flavorful. I'm not sure how they cook it, but it is like no other asada I have ever had! And, the portions that they give are very generous, for the price. It's become one of my favorite taco spots in LA. When we got to Grand Central Market, we drove up to the roof of the parking structure to get some pictures of Jefroe and the city.

Jefroe owns At Last League and At Large Media. He's been working as a designer for over a decade and has worked for brands like Primitive Apparel, & Visual. And now he's working on his own brand called At Last League. The brand makes a variety of apparel items with a focus on bags. Jefroe makes a variety of stylish high quality bags, ranging from unisex tote bags to men's utility pouches, that cater to a variety of needs. If you're looking for a new bag, you can check out what Jefroe has available at atlastleague.com. He does a lot of small runs and one off items. So if you see something you like, don't sleep on it. It'll probably be the only chance you get to pick it up, because those bags move fast!

After snapping' off a few shots, we headed downstairs for some taco goodness. Didn't shoot much inside Grand Central Market. But I got a couple of shots I liked. After the food, we did a little shopping around downtown and Chinatown. You can find a lot of interesting stuff that you probably shouldn't be able to find, in Chinatown. ...Things like ninja stars and fireworks. That's why I love going to Chinatown.

Once we had all the goods we were after, we headed back home to enjoy the extra tacos we got for later in the day. 

Thanks again for checkin' out the blog! Be sure to check back soon for more Bsombin' stories, pictures, poems, and more...

Pausing from pictures for poetry...

"Ghost Text"

The curtain closed on calm,

And the sweat bled from my palms...

As I looked down and saw her text,

Suddenly a little boy stood wondering what to do next...

Breath strained from sitting motionless,

Pulse screaming, feeling like such a fucking mess...

From butterflies in my stomach to a

Panic in my chest...
A lot I didn't know how to process

I wanted to answer her

But, I was also unsure...

I thought,

"Remember what she did to us?

Remember how it hurt?

Remember how we cried for month,

After she treated us like dirt?

Remember being ignored and

Being shown she didn't care?

Remember being disrespected and

Treated unfair?

Remember all the lies she told

And how our warmth was met with cold?

Have you forgotten all the empty words she spoke

Or how she left us broken and without any hope?

But still I answered,

"How are you. I missed you."

And then we relived everything

I wish I never went through...

Once again wondering,

Why am I so fuckin' dumb?!

...Ever since I first saw her,

It seems, this fool stayed sprung...

Just a sucker for a woman

That don't love me none,

To me she is a queen,

But to her I'm just a bum...

Abandoned by her highness,

In loneliness' kingdom

- Bsomb4

Hollywood Burbank Airport

...Just because I'm always going to pick someone up (or drop someone off) at one airport or another...

Vasquez Rocks

I updated Bsombin.com earlier this week. After thinking it over for a while, I decided to remove the watermark from all the images on the site. I want the images to be able to make their full impact on the viewer, without anything taking attention away from the content of the images. I just don't want my viewers being distracted by a logo anymore. So no more logos on the site images. The same goes for the images on this blog. I stopped adding watermarks to images a few posts back. The logo will basically be for marketing and merchandising, moving forward. I got out some pictures I took at Vasquez Rocks a few years back, while fixing the images on the site. It's Thursday (the day for throwbacks). So I figured it'd be a good day to share some of them.

My brother Jefroe and I got up early one morning to go catch the sunrise at the rocks. It's a beautiful park and nature area with some amazing rock formations. It's located about 45 minutes north of downtown Los Angeles and has been used in several commercials, TV shows, and movies. It got it's name in the late 1800 from one of California's most notorious bandits named Tiburcio Vasquez, after he used the rocks to avoid being captured be law enforcement. It's a great place to visit, if you enjoy hiking and the outdoors. And the scenery makes for some great photos...