monday flopper

Holler players!

Most Monday's i take the bike for a spin then grab some coffee... usually some subway with b-kauf..then scope out the thrift stores.
It's weird. When i was younger I used to be so embarrassed to go to thrift stores. My mom would every once in a while hit up sun thrift looking for typically old furniture like head-boards for beds that she could sand down re-finish and paint silly vines all over em. I hated partaking in the thrift missions. I felt like i was above them... To me shopping at 2nd hand stores meant we were poor , and now i go too a few on a weekly basis. I guess the older we get the less we care about status's. My friends give me shit for scoping out new spots in search for the diamonds in the rough, but fuck it. I'm weird i think this blog alone holds truth too it..
My main search was always ANY old looking camera, but i believe that i have narrowed it down to mostly Polaroids. Today tho was different.

picked up that for $1.04 in the valley. Not bad. Now i know i wont use it and they probably dont even make film for it, but i thot it looked kinda cool and Ive seen em on other peoples blogs under "thrift finds" so i forked out the money for it to try and be like everyone else.

Now i didnt get this on monday but i got it a few weeks ago at #3 ( i'll give numbers like a rating system...the camera above was found at #1 wich is the spot that rarely lets me down)


That thing cost ehhh i think $9.95..which whatever it looks old..i like it.

Now i dont always just find cameras at these places. I've also become addicted to finding old sports jackets or shirts as well:


boo yah... now we currently dont have an answer for Kevin Durant but im lakers all the way. Win or lose purple and gold still flows every time that IV gets stuck in my arm.. HeaRD THAT!

anyways . I think what draws me to these stores are memories. Other than pictures ( check!) the only things that spark good memories are seeing things that help you remember a time back when. Ive seen old toys and t-shirts that I had when i was a weeeee little chap that just sparks my mind.. if that make me "weird" then so be-it

Eh shot these photos in the valley of a ghost bike i pass on the regular while goin to the hot spots. I pulled over one time and a cop pulled up behind me and just pointed to a sign...the sign read " no stopping ANYTIME" wich i thot was a lil overboard. Im sure i could come up with a valid reason to stop..but i didnt feel like arguing with this guy.. so i took off.

The next time i parked off the road on some dirt...where i was angrily greeted by a man in his early 80's " you know if you park here and cross this road they're gonna put a Headstone right next to that bike with your name on it" which i thot was too clever. This man had a good 50+ years on me of intelligence and prolly some good shit talking too. Now you may have won the battle old man..but i will win the war:


spoils i guess

PEACE

up-great

Holly wow...ive honestly got so much to talk about but am quite lazy when it comes to doing so.
So with this entry ima just kinda run through some key points and hopefully ya'll will follow.

When it comes to exercise im no tony gazelle

in reality...i hate sitting in gym's pumping iron and sweating my ass off next to a few other guys jacked up with steroids. Grunting with every press. And the mirrors? WTF are those for? so u can see how juiced you are?...oh well...maybe im just venting cause i dont have chiseled abs...or bulging biceps. Maybe im missing the part of my brain that makes me care about that....oh well

anyways where im getting is that when it comes to exercise id much rather do something outside. Swim, bike, hike, play basketball naked....all lubed up with baby oil... I mean REAL SHIT people!

WEll a few weeks ago Monnez, Spam and I hiked up La Tuna canyon. No biggie

now on this particular adventure I ended up video taping more than i took pictures so here is video-proof that my fatass actually did something one day..

Bros hiking from ben Walters on Vimeo.

Ok enough self attacking.
Towards the end of march my dad and I went to Lake Isabella for their annual trout fishing derby.
When we arrived up to Lake isabella the wind was howling.. Not to mention that most of the good camping spots were taken, so we took refuge in rocked out tornado beach.

As much as I should complain about the wind and cold, i wont. For even a bad day on the lake beats any day at work.
Now..those who know me well know that i am not much of a morning person...so when 4am came along with my dad pounding on my door..it would be safe to say i wasnt too into it. Now what better way to cure a shitty wakeup than to take a nap. So once our camp was all setup i threw my line in the water and went back to my tent with a mighty fine view:

and said hello to the darkness my eyes so desperately longed for.

"bennn!.....BEN!....BEN YOU LAZY FUCK" screamed my dad.

"what DICK" screamed me

" you've got a bite" father

"reel it in you sloppy gargoyle!!!" I yelled back

My dad did just that:


after i netted that fish and upon further investigation i realized it was a cat-fish. Now i know what you're thinking..." didnt he say trout derby"...yes i did. But this was the day before the contest started and after sitting in the truck for 4 hrs u cant help but want to get a jump on the competition.
Now i dont eat fish...so i cut the line ( catfish are indestructable) and set that bitch free. Shortly after that I caught a ok sized rainbow trout...then decided to go back to my tent...munch some trail mix:

and re-enter my nap.

Passed out for a good 2 hrs and just as the sun was setting and the wind was dying down i woke back up... colder than that mark ass bitch Tila Tequila:

I noticed a bear growling next to my dads tent...so i used my investagatory skills and later proved that it was My dad making all the noise cause his ass was in hibernation...

So it was up to me... the city slicker...had to start a fire.....so i did...and if you build it...even the bears will come out of hibernation:


I was shivering because i managed to rip my pants mid day...but with my normal DGAF attitude i didnt change. My dad on the other hand was outfitted like he was stranded in alaska...even 2 pairs of gloves!

whatevers.grilled up some hotdogs:

and called it a night.


The next morning my Dads friend AL-Dawg came up to join in on the fun?



To be honest..when the actually derby was on...we didnt catch shit...but it was still fun to just dick around and not be inside all day. Now you can take the man out the hood...but u cant take the hood out the man...( AL-Dawg in true form):

(thats a gun folks)

AMERICA!


there i go again with that stupid color grab feature ( hypocritical)
Man the fishing was so good!...nawt..the DAWG decided to catch up on some urban politics:

Eventually the sun started to set and dinner was bein made.. Chili burgers, dogs and beans... 100% health!


After a few man sodas were pounded and the shit talking was at a high..i decided to walk over to the water...and to my surprise was my dad fishing in the dark....eat ur heart out edward cullen...this ladies and gents is emo:


..ok well not really:

AL-Dawg was in true slayer mode:


after a cupple more hours of hoodratting we made our ways back to our tents and called it a night.

I woke up to people talking right next to my tent around 6am...fog still on the lake. I figured..F-it get ma fish on..Put my line in the water and as usual...NOTHING...oh well

After about an hr the bros exited their tents and breakfast was on the grill:


now if that ain't american...i dont know what is!
( bbq'd doughnuts...holly hell...SO BOMB!)
Now we tried to eat as much of the food as possible so it wouldnt spoil on the trip home...my dad spared nothing:

woof...heart-attack

and thats all she wrote..heres video:

trout skunk abella 2010 from ben Walters on Vimeo.

Later hoodrats!