WELCOME 2020!

Good Advice for the next decade... Photo: © Stan Banos

I was gonna at least attempt the requisite annual retrospective, but then I saw that there were a whole  lottta decade reviews floating around on just about... everything.  So, in the interest of compromise, here's my half decade review- 2015 to 2019 were the absolute worst fuckin' years of my life, saving 'The Best' kick to the head and groin for very last! So, good Fuckin' Riddance 20Teens!!!

But... I'm trying to stay positive! And as trying as those last five have been... they've also been my most productive- photographically. That's hardly Even/Steven, but better than absolute nothin'! And with the passage of time, the acknowledgement that each day, each hour, each minute, is in turn more valuable than the one before it- thus it has always been.

Uncut, Uninterested...

I love movies where people find themselves over their heads, waaay over their heads- flicks like A Simple Plan and American Animals. So I was all up for Uncut Gems with Adam Sandler...

Don't get me wrong- Uncut gems is definitely well made, well acted, and the pacing... the pacing is a New York minute on a speedball laced with Meth! And as if the lunatic freneticism of the film's pacing wasn't enough, the only time people stop screaming in the movie is to inhale enough oxygen to yell and scream louder and faster. That said, I could tolerate all of it, if only I could empathize with main protagonist Howie- a New York City 47st jewelry dealer, hustler and thoroughly deranged gambling addict. And addict he is, not giving a damn about his family, his children or anything else in life save the next BIG bet! 

I avoided and despised self absorbed, self promoting Blowhards like Howie long as I lived in New York- and look upon them none the kinder 20 years and 3,000 miles away today...

ADDENDUM: I was hesitant to include this previously, but I really can't leave it unmentioned- particularly now that I've confirmed one aspect... One can't help but notice Sandler's fake teeth, and one can't help but wonder how that doesn't play into stereotyping the exaggeration of certain physical features and characteristics by which Jews have been historically caricatured. It was also more than a tad unsettling to see Kevin Garnett depicted as the pro Black athlete who after years of practice, training, etc to become a superstar... comes to believe his court Mojo is mysteriously controlled by a 'magical' rock- really?

The Holy Grail of Nepotism

Was the whole Joe Biden/Hunter Biden Brouhaha really a case of crass, wanton nepotism- you bet it was! No-questions-asked. So... while the Repubs are screaming it loud between every breath to anyone forced to listen- why aren't the Dems saying anything about that most unqualified of couples (besides Little Donnie and Melancholia) that occupy the White House? Exactly what are Jared and Ivanka qualified to do on a national/international scale? What exactly are their qualifications again??? Especially when you have Jared placed in charge of... that little quarrel they've seemed to be having in the Middle East for the last thousand or so years...

That alone is very well beyond any known peak of insanity and hypocrisy- and yet, Dems never seem to even mention it... 

IMPEACH The Racist, Fascist, Criminal Bastard!!!

Photo: © Stan Banos

All Seeing Baby Cop

Not too many things make me "happy" these days in San Francisco, there's JR's still ongoing exhibit- and then there's... "Baby with a Handgun." Completed just days ago, it's truly ginormous, and what I love about it most is that it can be interpreted in oh so many ways- while still bringing a smile to your face.

Photo: © Stan Banos (click to embiggen)

Naturally, I wanted to incorporate it into a photo, so I started exploring it from different angles just to get a feel. At first I got as close as possible, while still being able to include surrounding details, but resigned myself to the wisdom that it would probably take months before I got lucky. On my way home the other afternoon however, I decided to check out the perspective a bit further back, noticed some activity going on between the phalanx of cars in the foreground and all seeing baby cop towering in the back. I really couldn't make out what was going on in the tiny view screen of my GR, but lined it up best I could and shot a few rounds, if only for practice and reference. Sometimes ya just get lucky with this camera...

And the GR came through yet again, producing a file crisp and clean enough to draw notice to the small human figures subtly interacting and drawing back and foreground together. A nice surprise after weeks of running on empty... It's also eerily reminiscent of many a perspective controlled land and cityscape carefully shot with a view camera in many a contemporary photobook essay.

I started growing concerned about my aging GR; the new Super Duper GRIII goes for... $900!. No doubt it's plenty fine, but after biding my time, snagged another used original for $320. Seems in very decent condition, and will be testing during week. Upgrading's cool when ya have the dough, but it's always a tad ironic seeing so many videos showcasing masses of wholesale mediocrity produced with the utmost premium equipment... I may not be able to afford the latest and greatest, but at least I'm afforded an excuse when I don't come up with the goods.*

*Or so I'll tell anyone that listens...

Why Dems Suck...

Photo: © Stan Banos

I swear, if I didn't know the facts and circumstances of what the hell is going on here... there are times when I would actually believe... Republicans. Yes, they're loud, fast talking, and annoying as hell, but at least they're- Impassioned; even as they full well know that every syllable that drops from their mouths are the most specious of lies built on the most bald faced of lies from the lyingest Con Man this country has ever spawned. The Dems just lay out the facts and expect logic to magically take command, they still expect people to coherently connect and follow the dots where they most obviously lead, still expect that actual, reality based facts trump... "Alternative Facts!" 

If you or I try to shoot someone with a high powered rifle from blocks away and miss- we're guilty of attempted murder. If you or I try to shoot someone point blank with a handgun, and somehow manage to fall wide of the mark- we're still guilty of attempted murder! And yet, over and over and over again the Repubs argue that since Ukraine got their money anyway- it's all good! No worries...*

You're still alive... why-in-hell are you still screaming that someone tried to kill you!?! You've got the absolute gall to go after the very person who let you... live?

The question is- why do we even have to stop and explain this like we're appealing to the "logic" of four year year olds? Because when you're trying to explain things to people the likes of our current electorate, we need to simplify, repeat and accentuate the truth every bit as hard as the other side obfuscates! And let's face... facts- Dems suck at it. And this is why such an obvious, strong arm, mob threat abuse of power by someone who has proclaimed that he can do whatever he wants, someone who has LIED OVER 13,000 times in just three years alone, together with a long history of: housing discrimination, money laundering and criminal association before ever becoming POTUS should be such an obvious slam dunk- and is instead allowed to have his high crimes and misdemeanors confused, conflated and convoluted first into a non crime triviality, and then into an outright affront and unwarranted attack... against the perpetrator himself!  And thus he is allowed to get away with the most blatant of outright falsehoods and in your face illegalities over and over and over again.

This is a 5X DEFERMENT who should have been pronounced unfit and certifiably insane from jump for declaring and insisting (despite the most perfunctory of glances) that he had more people at his inauguration than Obama- and then having his underlings repeat his insane inanities ad nauseum. A person who declared in all seriousness that (are you ready for it)... "Windmills cause cancer!" This is a man who stops lying only to enthusiastically repeat and emphasize the most blatantly conspiratorial rumors and innuendos already proven and debunked to be demonstrably untrue! "You know the word is... people are saying... believe me!" That is all "the proof" his supplicants need hear...

And if you think we've already seen crazy- the next four years could well herald an era of insanity and criminality the likes of which will make The Bowling Greene Massacre seem like a mere 'charity.'

*Translation: Had Obama attempted to have a foreign country investigate a US citizen, forget his major Presidential opponent, think... Anonymous No One in trailer park- his rotting corpse would have been seen hanging on the White House lawn.

PS- How Blatantly Hypocritical are REPUBS willing to go in perverting this? 
       Oh... about this freaking far!

Americans Parade- George Georgiou

For someone who kinda prides himself on not owning much, I recently almost killed myself and a couple of friends who helped move me- and my 16 boxes of photo books weighing about 65lbs ea (down 3 flights... then up 3 flights).

After swearing to sell, donate and never buy another- here I go again... Hi, I'm Stan Banos and I'm a photobookaholic...

And how can I resist? I mean look at these photographs, each one a minor miracle compromising a major masterwork! Each image of Americans Parade by George Georgiou is a wonder of nuance, composition and detail that speaks to the ages.

What I Did For The Holidays

Central Park circa '77   Photo: © Stan Banos

Thanksgiving, that is. And what I will keep doing right into the Christmas Holidays, New Year's (the most dreaded holiday on earth) and well past that. Trying to right my damaged B+W negs- "The Legacy." Gotta keep busy, can't let the mind sink into wallowing. And attempting to restore damaged negs is a chore both time consuming (like hours into days consuming- for just one image) and concentration intensive. Kinda just what the doctor would order should one's wife leave!

Hate His Books...

 But every dog has it's day!

"I get a kick out of the Republicans saying impeachment is an effort to overturn the will of the American people when Hilary beat the dumbbell by 3 million votes. He won because of the antiquated electoral college, a 2-mule wagon in a jet plane world."  -Stephen King

The Irishman

I suppose if you're the type who enjoys going to Stones concerts when they're in their seventies (as opposed to back in the seventies)- you'll thoroughly enjoy The Irishman. It's pretty much a geriatric conglomeration of previous Scorsese/DeNiro Greatest Hits. It's not bad, it just... shows its age, particularly in the wrinkles of its actors, which at times I was tempted to count just to confirm what particular timeline we were in.

Seventy year old Deniro (via contemporary CGI) is converted into a strapping 30 year old in the movie- but he looks more like a well preserved fifty year old- one wearing a girdle at that... In one of the more graphic scenes of violence, his kicks and punches look more staged than anything via WWE. And that pretty much is at the heart of what's wrong with the Irishman... it-has-no-edge. Not good for a gangster flick. It's a bunch of old men reminiscing through the fog of time in slo-mo. Everything plays out as it should, when it should- no immediacy, no surprises... everyone's in on the punchline.

A Tale of Two Faces

This perfectly succinct example, supplied upon request, is a... shamelessly juvenile and personal attack beyond the pale.

But attempting to mock a person with disabilities is downright... okey dokey- 
apology unnecessary.

DISGUSTING!

Ain't It TheTruth...

“If Congress fails to impeach here, then the impeachment process has lost all meaning, and, along with that, our Constitution’s carefully crafted safeguards against the establishment of a king on American soil... If what we’re talking about is not impeachable, then nothing is impeachable.”     -North Carolina Law Professor Michael Gerhardt

My Luck (in A Nutshell)

As recently attested to, there was nothing I could personally do to keep my wife in San Francisco, she wanted outta the city- but there was one thing (1 Thing) that would have kept her here with me. For several years right up till the end, she had wanted to work as art instructor where I work with people with disabilities. In a place of guaranteed high turnover, it was one of the few positions that was not vacated on a regular basis. As you can well imagine, there's many a "starving artist" in San Francisco that would be happy to have the job. With my long track record there, they would have looked favorably upon her to get the job- a job she would have been most suited for. Alas, it was not about to magically open up just for our sake...

The position became available 2 Work Days after she left.