[DeTomaso] Reflections of my photo shoot(s) with Mike Drew (kind of long)

LaurieFerrari at aol.com LaurieFerrari at aol.com
Fri Feb 4 16:49:03 EST 2011


 
Our first attempt was a couple weeks ago.  Mike  came over after the 
memorial luncheon for Grant Stockwell that was  held at the Ports o' Call 
Restaurant in San Pedro, CA.  Grant had  chosen that spot and given Susan and his 
family explicit  details as to how he wanted his friends to celebrate his life 
and for  all to have a great time. With sour tears, we did!  Grant even  
gave each of us a letter covered with pictures from his  lifetime, apologizing 
for not being able to make the event with us as  he had another obligation. 
 Grant was just a sweet, delightful,  thoughtful, brilliant and obviously a 
very funny man. Hearing all his  friends and family members speak of 
heartwarming events from his life  was a precious tribute.  Many mentioned all the 
times he called to check on  people he knew were ill or had troubles.  
Everyone's sentiments  showed him to be the remarkable man he  was.  I don't 
understand why anyone should have to suffer with  that dread disease and maybe 
someday, with the help of great scientists  and the will of God, there will 
be a cure.  
So, later that day, Mike came over with the intent  of shooting my car to 
be "Profiles Pantera of the Quarter."  His aim  was to start very early the 
next morning, before dawn, so that he  could get good shots of the pearl 
paint without the interference of the  sun.  We checked out the car the evening 
before and I wanted  to go fill her up with new gas (actually some gas) 
after reading how bad  old gas is, but in going to start her up, we found that 
my  Odyssey battery needed to be charged up, and so had to plug the  battery 
in the charger for a night's regenerating.  Then we  decided to go get a gas 
carrier and bring gas home by hand.  We  headed off to Target and found a 5 
gallon plastic container for  about $11; filled it up with Super Shell, and 
Mike put the gas in as he griped  about all the new safety contraptions on 
the unit that are made for CA  regulations, and made it difficult to use.  
Next we had a bite  and I put Mike to bed on the couch with lots of blankets 
and turned my heat up  for him, as I generally like it colder than most 
people.
   Alarm rang at 5:00 am and I snuck into the kitchen without  waking him 
and made him some steel cut oatmeal w/ a dash of bran,  and sides of 
currants, bananas, almonds and blueberries.  He told  me not to mention this as he 
didn't want anyone to know that he ate  anything so healthy.  Then off to the 
car to set off for our journey  of the day.  My idea was to go drive to the 
top of the hill in  Burbank, above Universal Studios, as reference, and 
where the Castaways  Restaurant is located.  There one can see the entire view 
of the Valley all  the way to the Pacific Ocean on a clear day.  We arrived 
and Mike was  having me turn the car in different directions to get the best 
view without  interference from the sun.  Ooops.. one turn and I must have 
dislodged one  of the tires as at next look, the driver's front was entirely 
flat.  Mike  knew it had just happened as his last shot showed the tire 
full.   So he said there was no way to drive the car and I had to call the Auto 
 Club.  Yes, surely, as any prudent Pantera owner, I have the Premier AAA  
Membership, but alas I had not yet sent in my payment for  renewal, which 
was due start of Jan.  I thought, no problem, I'll just use  a credit card by 
phone to renew.  Murphy's law, my phone battery  was also dying out, so I 
had to use Mike's phone but it was no go for  that attempt as they don't 
accept American Express.  Thus had to call back  and do a check by phone renewal 
and then back in business again; the flatbed was  ordered and we had about 
an hour wait.  We sat and chatted a bit about life  in general, then Mike 
sped off in search of a restroom. As the  restaurant had not yet opened, I was 
praying there were no serious side  effects from the bran I had laced the 
cereal with.
   When the flat bed arrived, Mike was very helpful instructing  the nice 
driver, named "India" in how to place the tie downs as at  first he had 
placed one where it could have rubbed on my new and  beautiful paint.  We jumped 
in and headed back to my house. En route,  Mike's radar eyes noticed a red 
Pantera sitting in a parking lot of a car repair  shop on Magnolia Blvd.  
Thus, of course we had to go back to check it  out.  Mike wanted to try out my 
Vette and we headed back to check out  this unknown Pantera.  Mike, with 
camera in hand, started to take a  few shots when a man rushed out and said, 
"Hey, I don't think you should take  photos without the owner's consent."  Oh 
well.... owner was not there  but Mike had already gotten his shots and one 
of the vin  #.  I figured we were very close to Mike Mayberry's and since 
Mike's never  been there, that might be a good stop.  Sure enough Mike met 
Mike and on  their lift was a bright red Pantera that Mayberry had just bought 
and was in  process of restoring.  They had a nice chat and Mayberry offered 
to lend me  one of the spares from his Lincoln in case I needed it for my 
Pantera.  The  thought occurred to the Drewaster that perhaps my Gotti wheel 
had  failed and thus caused this instant flat.  The tires gave no clue that  
they were as low in air as they were.   I shuddered at the  wheel thought 
and decided to wait for my brother Arlan to come  evaluate the situation 
later that day.
We left the car out in my driveway.  Mike had to leave but  felt the day 
had not been a total loss as he was able to meet Mike Mayberry and  also 
discovered another species of the Pantera clan.  He waved as he  authoritively 
grumbled, "I'll be back sometime in Feb,... get some gas,  charge up your 
battery and please check the air in your tires next  time!!!!"
Arlan came over to review the tire situation.  He brought his jack but  my 
car is quite low and the jack wouldn't fit underneath.  He had to  carefully 
use some 2x4's to prop the car up just enough to  get the jack underneath. 
Next day I took the Yokohama to Western Tire and the  guys checked it out. 
There were no nails, no tears, nothing wrong with the  tire and nothing wrong 
with the wheel either. It had just gotten  so low and when turning such a 
wide tire, had popped off the rim. I was so  happy with that news that I 
brought the guys a 6 pack as a thank  you.  It has kept the air fine and 
naturally we went and aired up all  the others to the right poundage as well.
   So here we were Feb. 2nd.  Mike flew down again and  was to be heading 
my way.  He decided to stay at the airport for a  while to avoid the horrid 
rush hour traffic on the 405.  He called to  say he'd be a bit delayed and 
that he found the nice USO with  food etc. so he would have had dinner.  
Shame, as I wanted him to try  the Newtown All U Can Eat Asian Buffet in Burbank 
where they have  incredible quality king crab legs, sushi, sashimi, all 
sorts shrimps,  veggies, stuffed mussels, steak and ribs, a Korean BBQ, noodles, 
 soups, and desserts galore and all for $13.  My next call was  from Mike 
saying he got on the 101 from the 405 fine but didn't find the  connection to 
the 170 from the 101 and that he was somewhere around  Normandy in L.A., 
that's about an hour more added to his trip.  Not his  fault though as there 
is no clear marking on the Freeway to tell that you  have to exit on a 
street, Tujunga, get off the freeway and on again onto  the 170.  No one would 
know such a thing unless you lived here, so whoever  designed the freeway signs 
is definitely a "Pinhead,"  I was really  sorry for that, but in a ribbing 
way, as he always does to me, said, "Oh,  hmmm, a pilot without a GPS???"
   At last, he arrived.  Since he had already eaten I  figured I'd take him 
for a visit to my brother's house.  There he could see  our Mom's '31 
Cabriolet that is now Arlan's and my '52 English Ford  Consul that I have stored 
there. My Sister 'n  Law, Sandra, nearly sleeping and watching TV, got up to 
say  hello.  He told me that he'd always seen her in Monterey with me but 
never  realized she was my Sis 'n Law.
Then back home; we watched a little of the shocking news of  the uprising 
protests in Egypt, set alarms and once again put  Mike to bed on the couch.  
   Next morning we started earlier than last. This time  I only gave him a 
banana muffin I had baked!   Arlan had  suggested going up to Mullholland 
Drive where one is quite high  and there are turn-offs and beautiful views of 
the city.  Battery was  charged, gas tank full, tires all filled up, but  
car didn't want to start at first.  I was beating my  head on the steering 
wheel.  I said I was going to kill myself but Mike  said, I didn't have to, 
he'd do it for me.   I know it was the  weather because it was darn cold here 
and colder in my garage. Okay, not like  the rest of the freezing country 
with all the current snow storms, but very very  cold for here. So cold my ears 
froze and I think I have a cold today.  Mike tried and bingo, she started 
up, knowing better than to  mess around with him. So we were off on our 
journey.  We found a  nice spot and Mike pulled out his tripods, special flashing 
device, all cameras  and starting taking shots.  It was still dark out so 
his first shots look  like night time with twinkling lights in the 
background.  One of  the first shots, in the dark, is my favorite and I've made it my  
screen-saver.  At first he tried to move a trash can to  stand on but found 
it was chained to the fence, so he was trying all  different views and 
nimbly jumped over the guard fence and was hanging  off the side of a steep 
hill. Then he went to the other side  of Mulholland Hwy and climbed the mountain 
across the street. I was  quite impressed with his professionalism but was 
crossing my frozen fingers and  praying he didn't fall off the mountain or 
down into the valley below.  All  worked out, he was pleased that the shots 
came out so beautifully.  I was  so happy that I got the scenes I wanted with 
views of the entire city in the  background.   We took the car home and put 
her away.  Mike  said he was starving, so we jumped in the '96 Eldorado 
this time  and off to Dupars for breakfast, famous for pancakes and a movie 
star  sighting from time to time. Mike enjoyed the Cadillac's  cozy heated 
seats and said it was a very nice car with a great  Bose stereo and suggested I 
drive it daily instead of my Trailblazer.   He has a point there.   He 
packed up all his belongings, loaded up the  Scirocco... was in process of 
getting a very big box ready to ship to  Europe. Then he made me a USB memory 
stick with all my  car pictures and was ready for departure.  
   You may wonder why there was no Drewaster curse placed upon me  this 
time around.  Well no need to fret, as there was a standing pool  of 4 inches 
of water in my newly refurbished and tiled  shower.   This time as he waved 
goodbye.. he said, "I'll be in  touch soon and go buy a bottle of Drano!"  
p.s.  Standby for my car story and lovely shots of my Pantera in an  
upcoming "Profiles."




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