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It is a VERY cold day. It's barely 20 degrees in the Fahrenheit. There is no snow, but there is a light wind, but Soho is slightly warmer because of some of the people, many heading home from work, many heading out because it's Friday night.
There are a few cars along this road, and it is a place for people to get together.
One particular sexy chunk of Detroit metal parks in one of the spaces. Cherry red. Fire Engine rec. Please Officer, Arrest Me for SOMETHING red.
The driver-side door opens and Gwen steps out in jeans, think flannel shirt, thick hiking boots, and her motorocycle jacket, or course. She can't seem to shed it.
Weather won't keep certain people from their passions- a meet-up of enthusiasts is in the parking lot just across from where Gwen had parked. Hot Rods, foreign cars, rare vehicles, and some who just liked their Detroit steel. At least a dozen vehicles of all makes and models.
And among those who are braving the cold is one young woman with a camera- taking pictures of the cars. She's dressed for the weather, in long pants and a thick jacket. She's wearing gloves missing the fingers as she checks her film and begins to document. People are all too happy to show off their cars. "Wow! That's a really beautiful car!" she mentions to one person, "Do you mind if I take some pictures?"
Julie hops out of a customized cameo-locket two-tone 56 Nomad, riding on snow tires and chromed winter wheels. Hopping out and coming along up the street, she's headed toward the rest, apparently with a mind to head toward one of the bars or clubs, hands in her coat pockets, a checkered flag scarf close about her neck. She gives a wave, though, when she spots Gwen, red Stingray and all. "Hey, Gwen, how's things?"
Julie is a welcome sight amongst all these hot rods. Gwen smiles, the black headband her only protection for her platinum head, then steps over to Julie, looks spry and energetic. "Hey there!" she says with a wink. "Nice to see you out and about. Happy 1965!"
The gentleman who Jenni's asked grins, "Well sure!" he says, as he turns to get a look at the woman. Despite the layering for the cold, its not hard to spot the green skin- Jenni isn't normal. He pauses, "Er.. Sure." he says again.
"Thanks!" Jenni says next, as she begins to get low- taking careful pictures of the vehicle- really making it look good. Artistic pictures. Pictures of all kinds.
"Its a really nice car." Jenni offers, before moving on towards Julie and Gwen. "Hey there! I'm taking pictures for a school project- I was wondering if maybe I could take pictures of your cars? Maybe you can tell me a little about them?"
Julie smiles a bit, says, "Ah, hey. Free country, I guess. What kinda school project, then?" It's a bit odd being a project, perhaps, but, well, it's a bit picturesque for New York, and in winter, too, for cars like these to be out. But, it's time for a wash, in any event, so she's brought out her own. She winks to Gwen, "What d'ya say, Gwen?"
Gwen is momentarily startled by the green girl. She's seen a couple of green girls. One of them had made her first costume. But she had only LIKED green.
She pauses only for a moment before smiling pleasantly. "Well, I SUPPOSE I could show you my car and tell you something about it, but I think my friend here is more eager." She extends her hand, wearing black fingerless gloves. "My name's Gwen. This is Dizzy. And who are you?"
"Well, I'm in a fine arts program between Barnard and Columbia. Photography and filmmaking. You know, Cinema and artistic pictures- that sort of thing." Jenni offers with a grin, green skin all the more obvious as she closes in- she must be some kind of mutant. "I'm doing a project on curves. Curves on vehicles and how it reflects with light. Its a pretty clear, if cold, day- so… I'm getting great pictures."
"Oh! I'm Jenni." The green woman offers, with a smile. "Real spiffed to meet you both."
Julie ahs, "Kind of an art thing, yeah, there's a lotta that. Kind of one of those car wash days, gotta get that road salt off pretty often if you don't want to just garage your wheels or get rusty, so maybe you picked a good time. Course, on the East coast maybe there's less of a show than California, but we do what we can." She glances up. "And, well, I'm still teasing some of these guys about what I put under the hood of Stanley, here," she winks.
Gwen chuckles. "Stanley. She gives it a guy's name. Ain't that something?" She walks around the car, making sure she is behind whatever Jenni wants to take a picture of. "Dizz, tell her about the CHARMING car you named STANLEY." She is mocking, but only lightly. It is a pretty nice car, and she respects the work put into it.
But nothing says she can't have a little fun.
"Well, let me get a look at Stanley's engine, then, yeah?" Jenni wonders- grinning wide as she looks between Gwen and Dizz both. "Cars are beautiful, don't you think? The long lines. The curves. The way they can reflect the light- its really something special." she says, as she begins to take pictures of Stanley. "I bet it goes fast." she says, "I love going fast in a car- there's something really exhilarating about it."
"And why don't you tell me about your car, too, Gwen? I love the color. But, I'm a fan of colors that go well with green." she gives a playful grin at that.
Julie smirks, "Yeah, that's my kinda art, I guess." She says, "Hey, I had help with the naming and everything, what ya gonna do?" For all the talk of California, her speech is quite local, New York Italian, and she winks. "Pretty fast, yeah." She does reach through the grille to pop the hood. "Sometimes a lot of what goes inside counts," …nonetheless, there's a rather funny looking intake made of polished aluminum on top, conveniently labeled by the manufacturer, 'Fuel Injected, 360 HP' …and the valve covers show the 'Corvette' writing you'd see under Gwen's hood, too. "Anyway, here's this pretty sight. They'll say these is hard to keep in tune, but you just gotta get the hang of it."
Gwen smiles, then steps back to stand with her car between her and the other two women.
"Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray. 1963. With the split window in the rear, Goodyear rubber underneath, and in front, a blueprinted L84 small-block V8 engine with 375 horses all ready to rip." She winks. "I humbly introduce you to the name given by a very good friend. THE INFIDEL MACHINE."
Jenni is already taking pictures- not just standard pictures. She's careful to check on the light.. "Hey, could you stand right here?" she wonders quietly, as she tries to pull Dizzy into a particular location. "And…" Jenni takes a step back, looking through the eyepiece of her camera. "Yeah.. Maybe lean over a little.." she says as she begins to take pictures throughthe funny looking intakes- using the reflection there.. "I need better light." she sighs. "This is the worst part of winter. The light. Its just.. Its terribe for pictures." She shakes her head.
"Anyways.. yeah- lean over a bit…maybe? Yeah…"
Julie smirks, to Jenni, saying, "Ain't like you can see inside that, you know. That's kinda where the trade secrets are, anyhow," She glances over to Gwen, saying, "I guess you been holding out on us," she winks. But hasn't elaborated on what went into her example of the engine, just leaning there while Jenni does her thing, and says, "Yeah, I guess the light'll go away fast this time of year around here. Anyone want a beer, once the lady's done?" She'll close down the hood then, and indicate the other vehicles, "But these don't look so bad under streetlights, either, I guess, if you can get that."
Gwen smiles fondly. "My father bought this car at police auction. A heroin dealer's ride. We spent the better part of a year working on it. Weekends, evenings…him and me, working on it…together." She sighs softly. "Seems odd, doesn't it? Daddy's little girl?" She walks around the Sting Ray, looking at Jenni…looking at her hands in particular.
"I'm not packing the proper film for those kind of light conditions. But, the grainy texture in that might be good for a different set I've got planned." Jenni offers, smiling as she looks to Gwen, "Okay. Your turn!" she says, "If you don't mind, that is."
Still, Jenni is already taking pictures of the car- angles carefully chosen. Close up, and paying attention to reflections and the like. Jenni's hands are green- a deep green, like summer plants. Her lips, darker green. Her eyes? Green. Her hair- a dark green. Green does seem to be Jenni's theme.
Julie smiles a bit wistfully, there. She could pose casually for the camera with her ride, but she's really all too glad to let attention shift there. "Gotta love the lines of these coupes, though, real wild stuff." She could be …simply pretending not to notice the green, really. "Kinda nice to hear, even if you was trying to shark everyone about it before," she teases Gwen. Indicates over her shoulder. "A lot of what's in there came courtesy of this roadster someone with more money than sense of traction slid into a tree with." She adds, "That's why we had those Stingray parts back on the other coast." Then hastily-amends, "Guy didn't croak or nothing, so don't worry about that," she says, cause that may not imply great luck.
Gwen sighs. "Bad luck and cars. I suppose I'm tempting fate."
Tempting? After what she'd done, she'd corraled Fate, dragged it off to the Waldorf, and was currently watching it order the Maine lobster.
Gwen rests with her hips on the front hood, near the front bumper. "Do cheesecake shots make for a better project?"
"Its more about putting a human image in the reflection. I'm trying to catch the eyes in the reflection- that's why positioning was so important. The project is all about reflections. So, I'll take a few hundred pictures, develop them, and then do my thing where I present maybe twenty- if I'm lucky." Jenni explains, as she continues to take pictures of the light and how it reflects off the car. "But, I will take cheesecake photos and develop them for some extra cash. You'd be surprised how much more comfortable models are working with a female photographer." she offers to Gwen- not really chiming in on the car-centric conversation.
Julie laughs, a bit, "Maybe she's got better lines for that, too," she winks. "Guess it's gonna be hard to get a reflection like that without some light, though." She reaches into her pockets and pulls out a smoke and a lighter, shuffling feet a bit in the chill. "Besides, Gwen's gonna be a big music star, maybe you could keep that in mind."
Gwen giggles. "Yep. The Mary Janes. We're gonna be big stars. Watch for us on American Bandstand." She looks up. "That streetlight should come on any second now." She looks up, then puts her hands behind her back.
The sounds of the street conceal the little THWIP! as a jet of webbing covers the CdS cell and the light overhead pops on.
"See? There you go." Gwen winks again.
"I don't watch much Bandstand anymore. Too much work going to movie screenings, or watching shows with more camera movement… like nature shows." Jenni explains with a little smile. Looking up at only a single street light turns on- eyebrows knitting together. "Weird." she says, "And streetlight is wrong for this kind of shot. I need it to be natural." she shrugs, at that, "Well.. I guess that's really all I can do this evening. If the streetlights are coming on, there isn't many more pictures I can take." She sighs a bit, "Ah well!"
"What kind of music do you play, then? Rock and Roll, sure, but like what kind?"
Julie laughs, looking at one of the clubs, "Well, how's about we head on inside somewheres? I figure we can set you up with some places and times when people's around, …with light, even, though this time of year, what can you do, people gotta work and all."
Gwen nods, checking the doors to make sure they are locked. "I don't mind. No alcohol for me. I'll have a Coke, though." She walks towards the other two women. "I have to say I'm a bit curious about you, Jenni, if you probably could tell already."
"Sure, I guess. I can't take any more pictures with this light." Jenni says as she steps over to collect her photography bag, and put her camera into its case. Everything going in its particular place. She shoulders the bag and joins up with Julie and Gwen, "There are a couple of great bars here in Soho. Some are a little weird, though, like that one that only serves milk." she says, "But most of them are a lot less weird than that one."
Jenni Adds, smiling over to Gwen. "What is there to be curious about, Gwen? I'm an open book."
Julie nods, "Still some good rock and roll clubs here, for all that craziness, though." There is, after all, some reason for the hot rodders to keep coming around. "This part of town, though, everyone's doing their thing, that's kinda the fun part."
Gwen hmms. "Well, there is the fact that you are, entirely, green…and I'm betting not with envy." She tilts her head. "I mean, New York seems to be a magnet for strange stuff…"
"Oh yeah, Super Green." Jenni replies, nodding. "That's somewhat recent, to tell you the truth, not really sure why or what it is all about." she admits, "But, it is what I am, so here I am- Green!" she says with a grin. "Yeah, you can get a lot of fun stuff in these places. There's one club where the lights are kept super low- almost completely turned off. Just enough light not to bump into the tables or other people, right, so that no one really knows who they're talking to. The idea is that makes it so people don't depend on their visual impression of people. Only on their words, you know, very peace and love."
"So, rock and roll bar. There's that jazz-rock place just down the street."
Julie ahs, "Well, I dunno, if you're that worried about someone giving you trouble, we could work with that, I guess. I mean, most of these guys keep each other in line pretty much anyway, if anyone notices. Kind of a lotta neon in there anyway." Glances to Gwen for any decision there. "I was gonna meet a few people before too long, though, so whichever."
Gwen ponders. "Well, there is also a food truck a block that way." She points south. "Mexican food, but it's hot and it's good. There's a partitioned-off place, and the two running the truck have heaters set up. It could be fun, and warm enough to enjoy the evening without dealing with crowds. I hate having to raise my voice just to be heard."
"Oh, I don't mind. People don't mess with me- I don't let them." Jenni says over to Julie with another grin. "I'm a big girl- I can take care of myself." she assures her newest companions, "I can throw a pretty mean punch when I've got to. I took a lot of boxing lessons." she explains, "I've got a real mean left cross." Jenni still smiles, a happy young woman it seems.
"Oooh! I know, lets go to the Beachhead!" Jenni says, suddenly. "Its a bar that changes its location every couple of weeks, and only people 'in the know' know where it is. The theme is tropical- they'll have sun lamps, and cover the floor in sand. Its like going to the beach!" she says, with a wide grin, "They're always got BBQ going, like it was summer." she says, "Most people go in bathing suits, though. I mean, if you guys don't mind a weird theme. They got a band this week from California, too, The Chantays."
Julie says, "Oh, well, that's …pretty wild, not that I'm dressed for the show, …they far off right now? Like I said, I gotta meet some people soon.""