On Sunday Justin let me know that there was a “car show” happening down the street.

We went to investigate and found some interesting things at the Canoga Park Day of the Dead Festival.. I parked a few blocks down on Remmet. When I walked up to Sherman way I was greeted by a full mariachi band practicing behind the stage. When I arrived they were doing a haphazard rendition of the Star Wars theme – this would NOT be featured in the later show.

After all the food stands there was something going on at the corner of owensmouth and sherman way involving a dj and a guy in a tiger suit. I could never figure out what exactly was happening.

West of Owensmouth were the cars in the “car show.” A few decent old cars were restored (although none of them looked as “polished” as I’ve seen in finer auto shows), but mostly the show was full of “gangsta” rides. There was even a line of mid-90s Cadillacs that only counted as “show cars” because they had tiny wheels and a pinstripe or two. One “show car” was a late 90s Chevy Suburban with clear side markers, a pinstripe and aftermarket rims. Curiously there was nothing approaching “rice” though – perhaps that shows up in the Alhambra street festival?

The first show car was the “Haterz” Dodge Ram. Complete with mirrors on the ground, confetti and alcohol glasses (filled with cool-aid I’m sure). The truck itself featured generous application of women’s panties and (as you’ll see below) even a spare condom (in matching blue, no less!) stuck in the window.

A few hundred feet away terrible rap music was blasting out of the back of a Bentl- oops- I mean Chrysler 300C. A two toned purple and gray paint job, pinstripes and vertical doors didn’t do much to convince me the authenticity of the “Bentley” sticker on the grill.

Sadly, this car was surrounded by an army of appreciative local yocals, while a an actually tastefully restored over half century old cream Chevy stood lonely and unloved only a few feet away.

Past the show cars (which apparently include original VW bugs…just for showing up…in whatever state of repair or disrepair) were the show bikes. No, not the kind you’ve seen on television (from the other orange county), but bicycles.

This monstrosity twirled around on a little motor. The credits show it was actually built by a father for his daughter – and there was a “credits” line where the lucky little girl thanked those involved. There were so many of these bicycles that one section of the street had them all huddled together like silver snakes in Indiana Jones’ nightmares.

Walking back towards Remmet later I noted the AllState insurance Good Neigh-Bear handing out balloons to children. Great, right? Shows how nice our little community is, right? This was very close to a canoga park information booth proclaiming how Canoga Park is a great place to live. Only one problem… can you spot it?

At the end of the entire festival stood a fitting homage to our economy. Surely the minimum wage employees whose jobs will be cut first are the tip of the iceberg in the economic downturn. As their children laughed and played, sliding down the deck of the ill-fated ocean liner I couldn’t help but think that the “joke” is on them. Although, as my father reminded me today, if you cut off the feet of the beast it can’t catch any food. Lay off more poor working class people and there will be no one left to buy televisions they can’t afford to lift up the beast’s holdings in Best Buy.