Trump Indicated!

At least that's how the person with the "very, very, large brain" spells it- and if justice serves, will be convicted. And again in Georgia, and twice more in DC...

Beyond Irony

 How does one maintain a sense of humor in that state? Yet, there ya have it.  Photo © Stan Banos

20 Years (and a few more decades) Later...

Some folks (like myself- not to exclude say... Ukrainians) are quite the outraged how Putin lied Russia into an attempted takeover of Ukraine. While this has resulted in wide international condemnation of Mr. Putin, many an American seems to have forgotten how we were completely, and not so conveniently, lied into a war in Iraq. And as we now try to somehow, someway legally address the myriad of crimes committed by our former Narcissist-in-Chief, Donald J. Trump, Mr. Bush now seemingly enjoys being fondly recast as the lovingly harmless, grandfather type who paints adoringly cute portraits and tableaus ensconced in the privacy of his bathtub, the same W Bush who needlessly lied us into a war of invasion in a country that did us no harm, and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women and children for the sake of his own... vanity! Later he would 'joke' about the reasons he started the war, because by then... hey, we all needed a little humor- did we not? Gotta make some use of thousands of needlessly slaughtered innocents!

The good, honest people at FOX News (those currently being sued for lying to us about a recent election) were quite gun ho at the time to get their war on- mocking, haranguing, and ridiculing the UN weapons inspectors on a daily basis for declaring there were no weapons of mass destruction to be found. Who were these unmanly, girly boy spoilers for a good fight anyway?

Later, of course, those same good people at FOX claimed, how were they to know there were no weapons of mass destruction? "We were lied to," by the media no less! Lied to, by... themselves! Good thing that kind of thing, where FOX lies to its viewers, no longer happens! And uhhh... let us not forget that even "the paper of record," the most venerable NY Times also wanted in on the action- as did most every other traditional news outlet (as thousands protested in the streets worldwide against the most obvious of hoaxes). But on to the battlefield we did go, to dignify ourselves with untold tales of needlessly heinous torture and imaginary valor.  

And as if a twenty year look back on wars and soon to be dead presidents ain't quite enough- let's not forget this little golden nugget of history (the kind Mr. DeSantis would not want taught in your school) where a soon to be President had American hostages suffering in a foreign land wait just a tad bit longer to make him look good, you know... that great All American Icon who paved the way for the likes of W and Donald, the one who had our government actively trafficking in cocaine... 

Let's Make America Great Again! Again...

Linoleum

Linoleum is rather painfully described as "comedy, drama, science fiction," when fantasy would have done just fine (same with Everything Everywhere All At Once). One thing's for sure, it's nothing what you think it will be. It's a little bit guy building a rocket in his garage, a little bit coming of age, a little bit middle age crisis, and a lotta so much more...

And this little movie delivers it all, or at least tries to, if you let it- we're all connected, everything happens for a reason (except when it doesn't), life is what you make it, except when it has other plans... The movie challenges you from the start and may test some viewers patience before pulling all the plugs at the very end where it actually pays more than a passing homage to none other than... 2001! As for the title- yeah, got me on that one.

Weekend Expose- Why Is This The Saddest Place In All San Francisco?

Purloined photo taken as screaming security guard descended down the four flights of stairs of alleged art facility to intercept photographer in the making of this twelve shot plus panoramic. Neigh, art cannot be deterred neither within nor without its sullen, secretive walls...    Photo © Stan Banos

I warily approached the premises upon carefully scoping out its perimeter and inner layout.  Secret bio-weapon grade lab set within the side of a local mountain face? Guantanamo style, ultra high security, prison complex? Domestic cartel, fentanyl manufacturing and distribution complex? 

More like... the parking lot at The San Francisco Art Institute! What dire secrets lie behind its well guarded walls; what accursed practices sadden and imprison everyone within?! This intrepid photographer attempted to find out before being compelled to flee by whatever forces rule from within. How long can this desperate plea continue to go on ignored and disregarded?

ADDENDUM: No Joke! It really is sad- should've done my HW!

All The Beauty And The Bloodshed

A truly great David and Goliath story, and its totally based... on a true story! Nan Goldin is a definite known name in the photography world, but when tackling the powers that be, Multi-Billion Dollar powers that be (with international connections), an artist in a niche genre is not exactly on a level playing field with the gods of finance.

Throughout their legal proceedings, The Sacklers never once expressed remorse, or any semblance of human emotion or empathy, for the real life victims of their greed- avoiding bad publicity and further financial consequence were their only considerations. But All The Beauty And The Bloodshed is not just about the mostly triumphant victory* of art over blood money, that is, how Goldin waged a ridiculously uphill battle against the financial purveyors of America's ongoing opiate epidemic, it is also about her tragic youth and upbringing, the travails of her adult life, and finally, about the art she continued to make despite the personal trauma. Brave woman, braver warrior, brave human being and artist.

*The Sacklers will still have more money at the end of the time allotted by the court to disperse their $6 Billion dollar fine- than they do now thanks to the careful manipulation of their monies.

Addendum: The Fraenkel Gallery currently has an exhibition of Goldin's more recent work (including a slide show) till 4/29.

Gentlemen's Club

From as far back as Alexis de Tocqueville, the French have a long, well established history of traversing the mighty seas from the far reaches of the old country to discover, investigate and reveal to us what is truly great in America! This time photographer Francois Prost captures the majesty of American strip clubs in all their tacky, strip mall, neon glory from "sea to shiny sea" in... Gentlemen's Club.

The photos look great in all their square wonder- good choice of format to uniformly display them in all their various shapes, sizes and demeanors. And the book looks quite the treat as well- unfortunately, it is sold out and a second printing has yet to be confirmed. One can always hope...

Da Slap- Part 2!

Finally made my way to Chris Rock's new comedy special. Now, I usually would've jumped upon first hearing, but truth be told, his previous performance (Tamborine) was surprisingly... lackluster, and the clips I caught from the current special sadly seemed to echo that trend. Rock has been my personal king of comedy for a good decade plus; one can't sustain that indefinitely, and ironically, it was he who would actually note how the powers of his comedic peers would start to tarnish and diminish. I suppose both age and living large (and in increasing isolation) do little to maintain an edgy, punk, comedic persona.

Rock's number one super power is/was his genius level prowess at observation- translated into his frenetic, in your face delivery. He could organically riff on his acute observations with an ease and fluency that would leave one convulsing in laughter (eg- his description of middle aged church woman stuffing their ample feet into their dainty Sunday best footwear until the tops of their feet resembled warm loaves of bread fresh from the oven). LOFL!

This special was different however, it marked the advent of an equal amount of... proclamations. He was actually preaching, pontificating as opposed to merely presenting the evidence, and letting his comedic presentation draw you to its own conclusion(s). It struck me as being both intellectually and comedically... lazy- like aging rock stars who find they've lost a step or two on stage and now rely on grand gestures instead of the more nuanced, natural motions of a now faded youth.

Finally, the issue of the slap itself. And frankly, I expected more- both on a comedic sense and a philosophical one (yes, Rock can go there- both with relative ease, and truly revelatory results). He has repeatedly proven his powers of insight and scathing self reflection on a wide variety of topics- he goes wherever the evidence leads him. But we didn't get that this time 'round, instead we got something more like Trump's current Retribution Tour. He succeeded in landing his counter punches at last- but little else. I expected more, simply because he's been so exemplary of it.

Da Slap!

Michael Jai White is one seriously devoted martial artist, he’s also equally devoted to disciplining his mind as well as his body, which is evidenced in how calmly, rationally and succinctly he breaks down and analyzes the whole Will Smith Incident- not to mention fame, power and human ego in part and whole. A font of information on the intricacies of human interaction: physical, emotional, social.

PS- And me being as dumb as I am didn’t realize till recently that he and none other than Black Dynamite are actually one in the same. The latter being one of the most perversely and genius level comical enterprises ever put to film!

The Face Of Insanity

Logic (and sanity) At Its Highest Order

 

One man has a strong argument- the other has logic, fact and sanity...

Got Your Back

Hey! All you hapless luddites who still think the written word trumps video currency- (y)our days are numbered...

Yes, Sir- May I Have Another!

I'm gonna be as respectful (and logical) as possible... After four years of being debased, ridiculed and belittled by The 5X Deferment, the FBI can't possibly be this gullible or chicken shit, which leaves only one other possibility- they actually love the guy and the abuse he bestowed upon them!

Speak English!

Isn't that what you hear Xenophobes across this nation of 'Merika so often yell at all the goddang foreigners invading our shores "from sea to... shiny sea?" Well, if this person was the least bit familiar with the English language, she'd know what an absolute fool she just made of herself. But this, after all, is that person known, applauded and elected to continually make a fool of herself, without shame, self awareness or any understanding of the language she so professes to love and demean. Yes, we're talking none other than Gazpacho Police Girl!

And her latest vitriolic attack, which explodes in her face as soon as she mouths the very words that scream her ignorance to all but herself, is but the latest exercise in her commitment to linguistic genocide! 

Intelligence has its limits, while stupidity has none.   -Claude Chabrol