The Perfect Slice!

Photo: © Sean Poremba

Pizza was a way of life in old school NY- 15¢ a slice plus 10¢ for a small coke (mid-sixties)... yeah, you read right (subway an additional 15¢- OW)! Now, I ain't got nuthin' against a good taco, but good (cheap) pizza was what I grew up on, it was the universal lunch or dinner food when ya didn't have much scratch. Practically every neighborhood back in the day had a coupla good (ie- really good) pizza joints- now, it's hard to find good pizza by the slice most anywhere... even in NYC! And with all the miserable pizza chains that have proliferated, most people have no (and I mean no) idea what good pizza even looks like, let alone tastes like! Some of the stuff I've personally seen passed off as "pizza" is simply unconscionable...

So yeah, the last 20+ years have been a bit rough here in SF- at first, I figured I could find a decent slice somewhere in North Beach, the traditional Italian section. No such luck! I once sampled a slice at a new place that opened there a few years back- looked great, took a bite, not bad, took a second, what the... they put spaghetti sauce on pizza!?! Who does such a thing!?!?! 

Most places now a day don't even serve pizza by the slice, gotta get a whole freakin' pie, and granted, the quality at some restaurants can sometimes even rise to... mediocre. But what if you don't want a whole goddamn pie? What if you just want a couple of slices for lunch, ya know, so ya don't pass out on a park bench mid-day somewhere as we old farts tend to do... 

Last year, I did find a place that serves exceptional whole pizzas (Pizza Hacker- yeah, the name does not inspire confidence)- alas, it's on the other side of town. But this year, this year I found... the exception- PIZZA PONTE! Now, it's true I have to jump on the train and go under the bay to the city of Oakland just to imbibe... but this is the real deal- a true blue New York slice at its very finest!!!

Bought a regular cheese slice and it looked picture perfect, garnished with a basil leaf and gently shaved cheese. But screw the adornments, if it don't taste right... I pick it up, fold the center starting from the back and I hear and feel the bottom of the crust crack just so- a heart warmingly good sign! Take my first bite, and then another, and another- everything is in perfect harmony: sauce, cheese, crust... everything working together as it should to form the greater good! And you actually look forward with glee to eating the outer crust! I then order a pepperoni slice- oh, yeah! And I'm left contemplating a third... My friend had a Sicilian slice, which are thicker and rectangular (not to be confused with Chicago deep slice shit), said it was not the least bit heavy or doughy... Next time, a Sicilian and a regular slice it is- and I won't be left wanting (or passing out). Yeah, this is well worth the train ride!!!

Musk(Rat) Love

Photos: © Stan Banos*

The people spoke in all our nation's major cities and then some (on 3/29) as to what they think of Mr. Musk. The guy who takes such giddy, unfettered glee in firing without cause perfectly productive employees benefitting the public good, the guy who willfully cuts programs (that constitute significantly less than 1% of the federal budget) that condemn the lives of people, of goddamn freaking babies for Chrissakes, to shortened lives of pain and suffering from disease and starvation!

And now he's crying, full fledged crocodile tears about how his company is tanking in freefall and people have the unmitigated gall to do unto him what he had first done unto them... Time to get that chainsaw out again and- cut the whiney shit!!!

  Photos: © Stan Banos

*Can you spot the photographer? Briefly enters from the right (brown pork pie) at 18 seconds...

"Greed Is Good!" -GG

“The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy..."  Elon Musk

...Republicans who shrug when told that millions will die because of the cutoff of USAID assistance to poor nations that cost a mere .3% of our federal budget. 

Four Wheeled Efficiency Failure!

Side entrance, Tesla (San Francisco) showroom.                                     Photo: © Stan Banos

I must admit I've been watching with a certain unhindered (unhinged?), almost perverted glee the sheer number of ways that Elon's masterpiece of vehicular folly can fail, disintegrate and self destruct on video.* It's as if it was purposely designed to do exactly that! Although at this point, with the absolute myriad of ways it manages to imaginatively succeed at failing, one could accurately conclude that it was more cobbled together as a sheer afterthought, or bad joke!

Musk's success and 'genius' (remember when we sincerely thought he was one) is directly attributable to having people in his employ who actually knew what they were doing- while he reaped the accolades! The Cyber Truck is the first product he had a direct hand in designing- and it ever so deftly exposes the charlatan that imagined and created it! And now that we've all peeked behind the curtain, rather, now that the curtain has been torn asunder, he has truly entered panic mode as stocks plummet, profits evaporate and the remains of his reputation dive in an uncontrolled tailspin- like a Cyber Truck desperately flailing: off road, in snow, or on the regular highway of life on a warm and sunny day...

* Have you caught the one where they slice a carrot with the edge of the driver's door? Very thin and even slices too!

Anyone Up For A Group Chat?

Topics- As usual: bake sale, church outing, next country we're bombing...

All invited!

Different Year, Different View

Photos: © Stan Banos

As per usual during the winter months, I look over the 'reserves,' and nip and tuck wherever necessary (usually more than I care to admit)- sometimes ya even get lucky and spot an almost that makes the grade (that's another post)! This photo goes back to 2017 (when people still occupied downtown SF), and I was one year into color (& digital) photography. The re-edit above of the first take below displays just how bad I was (and to a real extent still am) dealing with color balance- although hopefully getting better. I first noticed an area in the photo in need of 'repair,' and attempted to fix what I damn well knew would probably require a complete re-edit. It was only then I realized- the whole damn thing looked off! No doubt, there'll be yet more color balance mistakes along the way- and they better not take another eight years to recognize!

Words Of Comfort And Solace...

Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their checks this month. My mother-in-law, who’s 94, wouldn’t call and complain,” he said during a Thursday appearance on the All-In podcast. “She just wouldn’t. She’d think something got messed up and she’ll get it next month.

So would I, my billionaire friend, so would I... For someone looking forward to finally taking the (SS) plunge later this year at the commencement of his seventh decade, those words fall like the warm soothing ointment of peaceful reassurance.

"A fraudster always makes the loudest noise screaming, yelling, and complaining*"

*if I could only recall who that quote so reminds me of... Freud?

RIP- NELSON!

Photo: © Lisa Wood    With Love...  10/27/2011 - 3/18/2025

Netanyahu- Mass Murderer, Serial Child Killer, War Criminal...

Obviously, this latest, unprovoked slaughter of four hundred people (130 of them, children!) is not about winning a war, it's not even about punishment, and it most definitely is not about freeing remaining hostages- it's about extermination, elimination of a people from their land so that Bibi Netanyahu can annex it!* Oh, Israel- you have learned all too well...

*All with our President's blessing!

I'll Take It!

Photo: © Stan Banos

Was on my way to one of those uniquely San Franciscan affairs called "The Brides of March," where everyone and their mom (and dad) dress up as a bride. It was a drop dead gorgeous day and a fun spoof, but with all the mugging and posing, I not surprisingly ended up with a lotta almosts, or worse.* I knew my recent keepers going to and from work during the recent weeks were no doubt gonna balance out with a string of weekend failures. Least, always seems to work that way...

Anyway, on the way home, I had the privilege of running into none other than The Honorable Dr. Sun Yat Sen. And he more than willingly posed quite patiently in the open shade for a rather handsome documentary shot (XT-1, 14mm).

*BTW- My original GR w/flash was a lot more valuable than my Q, with all those blazing white bridal gowns in the sunlight! Hope the GR IV returns its rightful flash- hopefully, I won't be in the market for one, but it really comes in quite handy for sunlight fill!

As I Was Saying...

Let's not restrict corruption solely to bribery!

DRAIN THE SWAMP!!!

Q: How do you get rid of bribery and corruption once and for all?

A: You make it legal!

(Promises Kept.)

Hope And A Prayer

Photo: © Stan Banos

I love taking pictures, with or without people; as long as it's a good image- it's all good! If it isn't centered around a certain person or persons, that just means it's strong enough to survive on its own, without the added influence of the human presence. That's an achievement in and of itself! Nevertheless, there's just something kinda special about a photograph that successfully incorporates the human visage as an essential part of its raison d'être, something that separates it from another image that can be more readily forgotten- that extra something that demands it be noticed, and hopefully remembered. Those are particularly harder to come by, and when you go without for a while, ya start getting anxious...Sometimes the person photographed doesn't project what one had hoped, sometimes, the photographer just fails to capture it. Wrong instant, wrong angle, wrong light. The subject blinks or shifts position the moment you press the shutter. It's all stacked against you, on either side of the lens.

So when that small, ever so momentary miracle of success does occur: photographer, camera, subject and all the other subtle but determining factors that pertain... When they all (in part or in whole) finally congeal to create a greater whole- it is a special moment, cause the human factor is such a fragile, fleeting element that can more often curse than bless. Most times, it's a struggle to achieve any of the above in any measure. But on those rarest of days, when luck shares your way, it can be but a single question to be asked- waiting on the bus to work as you turn your head in utter surprise... "Excuse me, can I..." 

Just remember, no guarantees- not ever. 

Petitioning The King!

Why is "tariff" the most beautiful word in the world for Donald J. Trump? The answer is easy... Tariffs = $$$, millions in his case, and for his own personal use!

Don't like tariffs? Pay the king his due- and all will be right as rain (ie- Drain The Swamp)!

SURPRISE--- NOT!!!

Republicans have long been salivating to cut Social Security for decades, and now that fearless leader is at the helm yet again, and leaving no question as to his unfettered, scorched earth policy- they may finally be able to line their pockets anew with the last vestige of dignity remaining any of us. What a paean to fiscal responsibility, patriotic duty, and triumphant moral legacy! And what a hot, flaming truckload of absolute shit to get dumped on our laps in our very hour of need... (ie- right in the very year I plan to retire)!!! Promises Kept Y'all!

The Misogynist Hit Parade

Do you have to be a confirmed and bona fide misogynist (and worse) to be a Trump appointee? Brett Kavanaugh, Pete Hegseth, Andrew Kloster (to name but a few)- all Trump governmental appointees (and let's not forget failed Matt Gaetz). Is misogyny the defining element in scoring points for the "meritocracy" called Trumpworld? And we're not even going into friends and associates- like Epstein (seven Trump flights on his Lolita Express) and the latest and possibly greatest (save Epstein himself)... The Tate Bros, those wonderfully liberated, 'Capitalists' and self professed misogynists who just happen to specialize in sex trafficking and money laundering- who were recently welcomed with open arms into our country. Who, oh who, could have possibly wielded the power to allow that travesty to occur?!?

Trump Economic Breakdown

Your Excellency, Mr. President,

We watched the report of your conversation with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, with fear and distaste. We find it insulting that you expect Ukraine to show respect and gratitude for the material assistance provided by the United States in its fight against Russia. Gratitude is owed to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who shed their blood in defense of the values of the free world. They have been dying on the front lines for more than 11 years in the name of these values and the independence of their homeland, which was attacked by Putin’s Russia.

We do not understand how the leader of a country that symbolizes the free world cannot recognize this.

Our alarm was also heightened by the atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation, which reminded us of the interrogations we endured at the hands of the Security Services and the debates in Communist courts. Prosecutors and judges, acting on behalf of the all-powerful communist political police, would explain to us that they held all the power while we held none. They demanded that we cease our activities, arguing that thousands of innocent people suffered because of us. They stripped us of our freedoms and civil rights because we refused to cooperate with the government or express gratitude for our oppression. We are shocked that President Volodymyr Zelensky was treated in the same manner.

The history of the 20th century shows that whenever the United States sought to distance itself from democratic values and its European allies, it ultimately became a threat to itself. President Woodrow Wilson understood this when he decided in 1917 that the United States must join World War I. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood this when, after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he resolved that the war to defend America must be fought not only in the Pacific but also in Europe, in alliance with the nations under attack by the Third Reich.

We remember that without President Ronald Reagan and America’s financial commitment, the collapse of the Soviet empire would not have been possible. President Reagan recognized that millions of enslaved people suffered in Soviet Russia and the countries it had subjugated, including thousands of political prisoners who paid for their defense of democratic values with their freedom. His greatness lay, among other things, in his unwavering decision to call the USSR an “Empire of Evil” and to fight it decisively. We won, and today, the statue of President Ronald Reagan stands in Warsaw, facing the U.S. Embassy.

Mr. President, material aid—military and financial—can never be equated with the bloodshed in the name of Ukraine’s independence and the freedom of Europe and the entire free world. Human life is priceless; its value cannot be measured in money. Gratitude is due to those who sacrifice their blood and their freedom. This is self-evident to us, the people of Solidarity, former political prisoners of the communist regime under Soviet Russia.

We call on the United States to uphold the guarantees made alongside Great Britain in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which established a direct obligation to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity in exchange for its relinquishment of nuclear weapons. These guarantees are unconditional—there is no mention of treating such assistance as an economic transaction.

Signed,

Lech Wałęsa, former political prisoner, President of Poland

Graduation!

Photo: © Stan Banos

This is the first photo I've successfully edited in 'adult' PS after reading about one third of the Scott Kelby PS manual (videos only get me so far). I had first edited it in PSE about a year ago and the resulting image was, in a word... awful- not because PSE was so utterly lacking, but because of my pathetic color sense! I'm sure someone with considerably more experience could do the present result even better, but this version is night and day of my previous, trust me- it was so bad I'm embarrassed to post a Before/After. I can usually get color balance in the general neighborhood, but sometimes it's like that part of my brain leaves without notice and I'm left with something completely foreign to both sight and common sense. 

Well, I'm hoping it's satisfactory- particularly since I also had to get a new monitor calibrator, and after several tries and retries to get it right on first attempt, and failing miserably... I just decided to tweak it 'manually' after the fact until my library best mirrored their previous results- at least as I best remember! My previous calibration was in sync with a few prints I had commercially made with no problem, so I can only conclude it was on point or fairly damn close- and that the 'legacy' hopefully carries on... 

Looking forward to studying more of the manual and select videos, especially looking forward to using gradient masks for the sky! And being able to edit more in RAW and as a 16, as opposed to 8 bit TIFF will help relieve the banding I sometimes experienced in skies previous. Of course, this will all take more time than I currently have (why I had originally planned to do in retirement), but getting up for the challenge. One thing's for sure, I ain't gonna mess with no LR until then! I opened it up just to take a look, accidentally clicked on something or other, and next thing I knew it had reorganized one of my folders into it's own distinct filing system which took me a good hour to suss out and (re)reorganize. I gotta separate manual for that too- but one headache atta time!

SHAMELESS!

If you saw any of the Oval Office Debacle, I need not describe just how downright low and despicable Trump and Vance were in that scripted, tag team beat down, attempting to belittle the man trying to save the lives of his countrymen from the likes of the wanton serial killer next door who just happens to be Trump's best bud.

Why does everyone associated with Trump have to be a sycophant, FOX News talking head (excuse the redundancy) or misogynist? Tell me the Tate Bros recent arrival on our shores has nothing to do with POTUS! The Tates are proud, self-described misogynists with a history of sex crimes in several countries- and, of course, rabid Trump supporters......