LAVELLA-BLOG!

Ah, the ebb and flow that is the life of a publisher. Not only do you learn to live without a steady paycheck, but the workload comes in waves as well, and when a new issue of the magazine comes out, it’s like getting hit by a tsunami. There are subscriber and advertiser issues to mail out, there are store and distributor orders to pack up and ship, of course the mail order picks up too, and when you’re a one-man operation… well, you can see why I haven’t been blogging as much.

The other thing is that I always strive to have a new issue out for the biggest car shows of the year, and there are none bigger than the West Coast Kustoms Crusin’ Nationals (a.k.a. “Paso”) held annually over Memorial Day weekend. This year marked an entirely new beginning for the show, as it was moved after several decades from the streets of downtown Paso Robles to the fairgrounds in Santa Maria, about 50 miles south. I was so busy trying to get the magazine wrapped up that I barely got my vendor application sent in on time, but Penny who runs the show, lil’ sweetheart that she is, made sure I had a spot. Lots of people were apprehensive about the change of venue, and even the weather (it hadn’t rained over this weekend since 1992) seemed confused at times, but I had a great time and will definitely continue to support the show. Not only is it about the only time I get to see friends like The Burbank Choppers and Dan Collins, I got to meet some real legendary characters like Mercury Charlie and Bill Hines. The highlight though had to be the “private tour” of James Hetfield’s insane new fully-custom pick-up that my boy Scott Mugford of Blue Collar Customs got together literally just in time for the show. Of course it won the “Greatest Thing That Ever Happened” or some such award, and here is a pic of Mr. Mugford going up to claim it. Good times, good show, California still a go.