Monday, January 30, 2023

Remembering 2 Minor Icons

A quick search of The Guardian last Sunday revealed the passing of a sublime guitar hero, and the examination of a noted photographer and documentarian who went to his grave with a very sobering secret...

I still remember the utter thrill upon first listening to Tom Verlaine's album Marquee Moon and being transported to rock & roll guitar heaven! The album was transcendent, a proto-punk who could actually play, a guitar virtuoso who delivered the goods tenfold, and still kept you wanting for more...

Meanwhile, Ernest Withers compiled an enormous body of work of a time and community that he alone was positioned to have such access- while at the same time compromising that very legacy with every shot he took, every life he documented, every secret he exposed...

Saturday, January 28, 2023

Proof!!!

 Of what, don't exactly know... but it's all the proof I need!!!

The Mars Barrr (NASA/JPL/Univ. of Arizona via SWNS)

Still don't believe?!?

Friday, January 27, 2023

What Happens When...

one group chooses to punish and humiliate another group as (Republican) investigators chose to when 'investigating' the... investigators?!? They are handed very credible evidence of very possible wrong doing by their own people and leader(s)- which they very quickly proceed to bury post haste!!!

Sunday, January 22, 2023

(In)Justice


Photo: © Stan Banos


I remember when they crucified Anita Hill in the '90s for the sake of the pubic hair fabulist (and Supreme Court Justice to be named) Clarence Thomas, he who decried Affirmative Action, only to employ his own very personalized version to outwit and defeat his critics in a basically All White Congressional 'jury,' by ever so sanctimoniously declaring himself the victim of a "high tech lynching." Giving credit where credit due, it was the most effective and sickening display of playing the "race card" by someone who professed to be so adamantly against the slightest hint of it. And the very same White Congressmen who most profoundly condemn said "race card" whenever allegedly used in society at large, cheered wildly as he unashamedly owned and abused it to his, and their advantage.

We were again treated to the same basic storyline in 2018 when human beer mold Brett Kavanaugh was accused of rape by yet another totally believable and truthful female witness, one Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Mr. Kavanaugh lashed out against those who doubted his denial of the accusations with some rather vehement verbal attacks and histrionics that at times bordered on the unhinged.

But this time- there would be an FBI investigation! I remember watching a former FBI agent on a cable news channel describing what such an investigation would entail. He assured viewers that such investigations were thorough beyond imagining, where no stone would remain unturned. Every friend and acquaintance of either party would be meticulously investigated, witness reports corroborated, and agents would personally drive Ms. Blasey around until the house in question where the alleged rape occurred would finally be located and confirmed! Have no doubt, all would be revealed...

Of course, none of the above happened. With Trump at the helm, it was a most deliberate and guaranteed whitewash specifically designed to get his man in. And once again, yet another absolute shit of a human being who openly mocked and degraded any semblance of law and justice was gleefully seated on our nation's highest court. 

Now comes a documentary called Justice, a film that exposes key bits and pieces of viable (and incriminating) information that were purposely ignored, not pursued and intentionally left out of the official 'investigation.' And one can only hope that the film throws open this case anew and ultimately leads to something akin to its title...

Friday, January 20, 2023

For Your (Remote) Consideration...

 

Hey, even if you're not buying any of it, ya gotta admit- you can't possibly have a cooler name than 
Ingo Swann. And then, there's this...

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Would Have LOVED To Photograph This!!!

Cause I'm just a tumbleweed lovin' kinda guy! They've captured my imagination since I was a kid; aimlessly stumblin' and a bumblin' through the bleak Western landscape, always just the slightest bit leery that they would somehow transform into some malevolent mass, self awareness. And seeing them overtaking suburbia somehow adds yet another level of creepy surrealism...

Saturday, January 14, 2023

Facts, Documents And...

Well... the slam dunk on indicting/convicting Trump on classified documents just turned into a Hail Mary from halfcourt!

Yeah, I know, I know- apples and Appalachia; but facts no longer matter in the court of public opinion, and if you think that really doesn't matter- Puh-lease! Plus, they found the documents (in Biden's possession) in November, before election...

What was a 'sure thing,' easy-peasy Trump conviction on obstruction may now have to be discarded because it's hard to talk obstruction without first talking unlawful possession of classified documents- which they are both Guilty of! We had a plethora of criminal charges to convict the bastard: the sure bet is now arguably shot to shit, the insurrection charge is as real, as it is shaky- so full steam ahead with the voter fraud charges...

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Looking At Things...

João Rocha-   Looking At A Juice Box

via Kim Jong Il! Can't get any more direct and on point than the title of this book. Talk about a one trick pony- and it's a helluva trick ya never tire of, from one cover to the next! And that's what good photography is all about- in any book.

PS- Yeah, would love to read the notes those military officers are studiously scribbling down concerning Great Leader and... juice boxes!

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

There are Groomers...

As in the hysterical propaganda promoted by QANON- and then there are GROOMERS (the real kind) who uhhh... just happen to be in QANON (making up stuff about... groomers)!

Friday, January 6, 2023

Babylon

A mish-mosh of a film throughout, Babylon speeds through earliest Hollywood Blvd. like a cocaine fueled, slapstick farce, occasionally slamming the brakes for spurts of sophomoric, overbaked drama which unfortunately comes off as sadly ludicrous. Could have been a seriously good movie- if someone had stuck to the script... any of the half dozen or so to be found within its three hours.

Tuesday, January 3, 2023