MAGAZINE

EDITORIAL

Someone wrote from the North East that we were a glimmer of hope that real rodding was still alive on the left coast. (I kinda hate being on the left coast 'cuz my politics are definitely not lefty). I am here to tell you Brethren that here, like in most of your areas, Right Here In River City, there is a community of hard-core believers gettin' it right. But they are gettin' it right QUIETLY, because it's for their own consumption, not subject to the approval of the multitudes. I want to be just like these guys.............. I'm trying.

Some few of them will come together at a 'road-house' we all know on I-5 late in May. The Rattle Can Nats is on then, and if your primered or original-in-distress-paint-rub-thru rod or custom wants to throw in, send us your phone number. You'll be called with sketchy details about a week ahead. There's probably no risk of it, but we don't want it to get too big.

As you meet more and more of these inspired cats, you (I) realize how far behind the curve you really are. I am forever thinking "I didn't know he had one of those. I didn't know he'd done that. Oh, so HE's that guy." Steep learning curve. These guys are out there and each month more of them reveal themselves to Hop Up by e mail. It's like I think we said before: pretty amazing that the old-fashioned way of doing our thing is being communicated in a new-fashioned medium. Not everybody touches both ends of that spectrum. One youngish believer says there's a definite movement under way toward traditional rods and customs that will sweep the modern styles under the floor mat. That may be true, but our hope is that if our styles become fashionable across the board, so, too, will the character of the man. They should join us because they have an affinity for the HISTORY, the players, the evolution , the simplicity, the hands-on, the art. Let's see if they behave. Some will. And - stranger things have happened - some day in the 21st century some of us may have some knowledge, insight, familiarity, and passion to share with them. If they behave.

THE VIEW LOOKING PAST A BLOWN ARDUN