Soft White Underbelly...

When I first noticed Soft White Underbelly, I was intrigued, but a tad leery. And just who was this gym fit, blonde, corporate photographer who seemed to get his off time kicks photographing the poorest of the poor Black and Brown folk? Just what are his motives, and what if anything is the endgame?  A lotta questions to be sure, but as I've begun watching, one thing is definitely for sure- his videos strike a nerve, are definitely addictive, and very much worth watching... Again, I may change my mind when all is said and done, but at this point, I'll very much take him at his word...

From the half dozen or so I've watched, I've seen: people repentant, people in pain and even people seemingly at peace with the very havoc they helped create. And here's where the whole veracity thing jumps in- how do ya know if these people are even approximating the truth? What's to stop them from making it up whole cloth for a couple of bucks to get there next hit? Legit questions. 

And all I can tell ya is this: I met a lotta people from similar backgrounds, only younger in their journey- from grade school to HS age. Yeah, even then, some will lie straight to your face on just about anything. I'd hesitate to dismiss anything out of hand, but always took things with a generous grain of salt. Then I'd go read their records outlining the details of how they ended up in my classroom (for students officially classified as "Extremely Emotionally Disturbed And Socially Maladjusted")- one fucking horror story after another. I can't give you any percentages on how many people are born a certain way, and how many are "a product of their environment," but I'd like to see you, me, anyone grow up any the better after what any of these kids have gone through, and continue to go through... And a goddamn miracle it is that any of them, do in fact, somehow manage to escape the very hell they were thrown into.

The first video is one of Redemption- hard fought, unheralded and ever so fragile. And one can only hope it is allowed to prosper, despite the odds that society has constructed not to nurture it, but to quash it wholesale.

Many of these are hard to watch and listen to, the second video (and subsequent follow up), almost had me to the point of tears... Please Click: Watch this video on YouTube, if not immediately available.

 

FUCK THE ENVIRONMENT!!!

 It's what they do BEST...

(especially when no one is paying attention)!!!

Zombie Nation

Photo: © Stan Banos

For a while there I thought I might be coming down with something since I was feeling kinda sluggish, but since nothing has come of it as of yet, I guess it's little more than the overall malaise of living this new found, automaton like existence of self quarantine. I still need to attend to a client with disabilities a few hours every week at her place, and on my way I decided to take a short cut through the Tenderloin. San Franciscans will regale one with how back in the day cops were encouraged to patrol there by restaurant owners with the lure of a free steak dinner- well, the steaks have long gone, but even on the best of days, the ambience still remains...

Two blocks into my little detour, I quickly decided to abandon said game plan as I was walking amidst a major Hollywood, Zombie movie set of the Corona Apocalypse. The sidewalks, streets, gutters and alleyways were crawling with what literally looked like the walking dead far as the eye could see in every direction possible. Just being flat out honest about what it looks like when you have an entire neighborhood hunkering down on the inside and over run by filthy, slow motion, drug addled, mentally ill denizens on the outside; not in a city devoid of cash and resources, but in one completely awash in $$$! I really did want to amble about and take all kinds of photos just to show y'all what I'm talking about, but just like in any zombie movie- they may be slow, but when you're surrounded, they-will-catch-up-to-ya! But do come down and see for yourself should you disbelieve...

Now I'm not saying this just to rank on those less fortunate. There's plenty of blame to go 'round in this city where you're more likely to step in human shit than that of your neighbor's dog. There's no excuse for a city that allows people to live exist like this even under 'ordinary' circumstances: the homeless need jobs and homes, addicts need programs- and those demonstrably incapable of caring for themselves need to be institutionalized... Full Stop! Responsibility comes full circle.

Basically, what exists right there, right now, is an open air breeding ground for The Corona Virus...

Pre-Pandemic Prep

Yeah, hearing about anything and everything Corona-Covid 19 is just about pouring out of every orifice and then some- and I have no idea if I even have the goddamn thing! But the podcast below is one of THE MOST informative pieces that you'll hear, read, listen to and/or watch about the current pandemic response from start to finish, particularly as it relates to these semi-United States. Relative, vastly informative, and definitely not what you're gonna hear from any mainstream news source anywhere- and speaking of informative...

Proposed sign to be displayed at every McDonald's and fast food restaurant currently open:

We don't supply our workers with Sick Leave, so there's a good chance your server came to work despite being sick...

 

Mea Culpa...

Every once in a great while, Stan manages to put his dumbass foot in his mouth- royally! And when he does... I think it's important to own it ASAP and fess up- and such was the case on my recent rant concerning the upcoming Chromantic exhibition/festival. I was operating under the assumption that there was a paid entry fee- I could have sworn... but I simply should-have-checked! 

The lack of entry fee does, in fact, change everything- and I want to personally thank Stefano for maintaining an open communication line long enough to remind me of that ever important fact- and wish Chromantic what will hopefully be a very successful festival! (Original rant deleted.)

Pandemic Hooky A Go-Go

Having all this extra time is great, having everything closed- not so much. Great for reading, working on the photographic archive, and kicking back on You Tube- the ultimate entertainment/educational channel (ok, emphasis on the former).

Now the guy on the lower left of the video is pretty damn annoying (granted- but does serve a purpose*), the guy center stage- most definitely not! Bob Lazar has been: ridiculed, interrogated, harassed, slandered, raided, fired and fired at. His birth certificate, work and academic records were disappeared and his life in general has been turned upside down by his former employers who even now, decades after the fact, continue to monitor his whereabouts and raid his home on occasion for good measure. Oh yeah, he briefly worked back engineering alien craft at S4 adjacent to Area 51 (and has passed a comprehensive polygraph test)...

* Full interview sans 'Body Language Expert.' 

Ticked Off Yet!?

           Photo: © Stan Banos

Well, we all have a little more time to stay home and stew a bit now, so let's not waste the opportunity... cause I'm sure this ain't gonna end anytime soon, and there'll certainly be more on the way...

 I don't take responsibility at all.     -DJ Trump

Gotta give the guy credit- the ultimate slap back... when they let you get away with it! 

Enjoying the (lack of) leadership seesaw? After down playing 'the Democratic hoax' for weeks, and reassuring us that "Some people get better just by sitting around," we are now corrected that he "always knew it was a pandemic," nevertheless, everything is on the mend. Yesterday, Trump stated that the drug chloroquine was approved for usage against the Corona virus... it-is-not! Anyway, seriously, what does it all matter when...

"It's going to disappear. One day, it's like a miracle, it will disappear." 

Maybe, just maybe, as the economy tanks and people around them start to die, the veil will start to rise even among his hard core supporters, and they'll begin to realize that they're being led by the nose by an utter buffoon- or they'll just continue to pass the blame unto someone else as does he till the bitter end...

Speaking of which... the vast majority of people seem to think this is some freak one-off that will dissipate in due time; once again, they're not connecting the dots and realizing that this is what happens when you continue to give Mother Nature the big middle finger each and every damn day. Decades from now when climate change is in full swing this will be remembered as that quaint respite of a warning, back in the day when we could all relax at home with only one world wide catastrophe to deal with...

Revenge Of The Pangolins!?

Good on them! China has been slaughtering these poor wee creatures, as well as encouraging other countries to do so by the hundreds of thousands- as if mutilating and killing sharks by the millions just for their fins each and every year just wasn't enough! Oh, and let's not forget the fine job they're doing decimating African elephants...

For the record, this is not some jingoistic anti-Chinese rant; this is aimed at a country's government that has some good laws on the books concerning these very matters- but is choosing not to effectively enforce them! And laws are only as good as their enforcement.

PS-  A spike in epidemics and pandemics are but one of the consequences predicted by climate change, along with increased: droughts, famines, fires, storm ferocity and global wars/conflicts due to decrease of land mass caused by sea rise...

This virus which has set the whole world afire is but a wee peek of much grander things to come in... Future World! Imagine when all the above is happening concurrently- fun times ahead!

Jerry

Video and photos by Mark Laita. You can visit Jerry's Go Fund Me page here...
(click on: watch this video)

Ann Peebles...

The Case for... Scientific Study

Just like there are REPUBS scared shitless to say anything about Trump because, you know... THEIR JOBS! There is many a scientist, academic, political and/or military 'leader' equally scared senseless over the subsequent ridicule and professional repercussions regarding UFO's. This man of esteemed distinction was pilloried (publicly, socially, professionally) for daring to speak out on the ongoing phenomena. So... it's left to those with somewhat 'less impressive' resumes brave enough to tough it out- along with the bona fide crazies who the media gleefully hype into stereotypes representative of the entire field.

Think This Is Bad?

   How do you like yours?             Photo: © Stan Banos

You E-A-T a credit card's worth of plastic each and every week!
(and what we make the planet endure is far, far worse...).

Choose Your Political Dementia

For a second, for a spit second, I thought that maybe... just maybe, I could, after almost 65 years of holding my nose and picking the least malodorous, finally vote for a person I actually believed in- someone who thought about, believed in and fought for the same things near and dear to me! That hope is not quite quashed as of yet, but has faded considerably as we are now being handed yet another doddering, bumbling fool to replace another... Funny, real funny, how two of the more mainstream candidates dropped out the very night BEFORE "Super Tuesday," only to cast their support for their main competitor- helluva 'coincidence!' How many times does that happen!?!?!? Huh?

Rrriinng... "Listen: You're smart, you're young, you got a future in this party, and this party wants you and can give the support you'll need in that future- and all we're asking is to support our one, true Democratic candidate; everyone benefits! Or, cast your lot with Whacky Bernie in the corner over there. Now, what's it gonna be?"

Meanwhile, boots on the ground Democrats are being dutifully reminded that such an off base figure as Bernie Sanders cannot possibly beat our current POTUS (despite three plus years of barely surviving his admittedly impossible victory). Yet again, we are told that in order to WIN we need someone: less strident, less controversial, more middle of the road- like... Goddamn-Fuckin'-Hillary! 

Democrats- the party that never learns.

Sacred

Well, it's always, usually better(er) not be rejected outright! Not exactly a First or Second Place finish in Urbanautica's Sacred.The Experience of Beyond but... "Special Interest" at least gets ya on the podium. As with most any group show- some really good stuff, along with a lotta stuff that makes ya go, "Huh?"

Some of my faves include: Asnam- Georges Salameh, Storefronts and Synagogues- Rob Stephenson, Churches of Zulawy- Maciej Leszczynski, Modern Love- Benoit Chailleux, Paradise Tree- Flaviano Frascogna and this particular portfolio on an ol' time curiosity... Pet Cemetery by yours truly (and do click to embiggen and appreciate).

Second Go

Photo: © Stan Banos

I usually don't miss much when editing (ie- "editing" in the more traditional sense when it referred to separating the wheat from the chaff, as opposed to its more modern day, digital connotation which refers to developing or processing an individual file into its final presentation). But occasionally one does fall through the cracks, and when rediscovered (usually during the slower winter months) it's always a small joy- kinda like finding a twenty on the sidewalk! 

This originally got axed, if being honest, because I knew that editing (in the modern sense) might be more trouble than the image was worth, and I already had the chosen winners from that trip to deal with. So when I recently came upon it and decided to seriously give it a whirl, it was a kick to end up with something worthwhile after all!