Live from the sketch book. Holiday cards...gone (for now!). Inspiration from the gravestones below. More inspiration..more images.
Missed the Demolition Derby last night. It was just plain too cold, too grey and too humid to really soak it in. All sorts of trashed cars are in the parking lots waiting for the weekend dem derby and possibly the figure eight. I love this stuff. The scene is essentially this: most of trumansburg congregates in the grandstands of the fair ground. Bursting with people. The various sports teams represented by players in uniforms are working the crowd selling candy and cookies to glean as much money before the school year happens. Between the grandstand and the stage is a dirt track that they race horses on etc. On the stage side facing the crowd is the entire fire department in total fire gear with hoses etc. ready to jump on any problem. There are 3-4 tow trucks in tow--at the ready. There are a ton of very important people on the stage who comment, dedicate and recognize. I love it that our local car dealership stands as the sponsor of the event. Perfection.
Within this space are fifty (or so) cars, parked nose to nose. The cars are total art. All the windows are out. All the interiors are stripped out to being a seat and a steering wheel. Some of the roofs have been chopped, some have been lowered to close to the ground etc. Then, the paint jobs are either a spray collage with names/words/ phrases/ the names of the cars...or my favorite kinds (very Mad Max-y) that are matte black with a really primative single letter on the side (lettering beyond great...) with the chopped squished roof. Inside are the drivers who range from young women and men to all sizes and shapes of middle aged men. So, on to the sport. When the sign is given, the drivers pull forward, and go backward...for a long time until someone is too bashed up to move any more. The driver jumps up and out of the front window, climbing to the top and jumping off the car and running off the field of automotive centaurians. Smoke and steam. It is a bit scary thinking of the "what ifs"..but I looooove it.
Horse pull tonight.