The Happy Dogs

I recall one woman approaching me back in the day and saying, "I have this theory that there's really only one of these dogs, and they just switch owners at night." And after watching many of the videos featuring English Bull Terriers currently on You Tube, I can't also help but be amazed at just how many do look so amazingly alike- even by someone like me who had one and can more readily identify even minor differences in physicality. But it's not just their looks that can be so strikingly similar- it's also their behavior(s).

They're highly excitable laddies, and when in such a highly charged molecular state, they usually resort to two distinct modes of action. One is the circle dance, where they repeatedly (and I do mean repeatedly) pivot in a tight circular bit of frenetic foot stomping; the other being the diagonal dash, which consists of running about from room to room, wall to wall as fast as their muscular appendages can possibly manage- they brake by rearing their bums into the opposing walls and harnessing the resulting kinetic energy to jumpstart the next run into the next wall. Repeat...

 

 

Just be alert to the fact that they don't stay in their lanes and will topple whatever's in the way. Mind you, they're just happy- happy to see you, happy to play, happy being... happy! 

PS- Except on those highly irregular occasions when they enter their uniquely inexplicable fugue state, commonly referred to as "trancing."

$15 Million Trumps $2-3 Billion!

Anybody and everybody who can add knows that Hunter's $15 Million is way, way more than with a... B! Jared's measly little $2-3 B-B-Billion 

Right? Right!?! 

And yet, Dems have let Repubs run roughshod with this BS for how long?!? And how long more?!?

Give credit where credit is due- those MFs stay on message... (and their cult following swallows whatever's shoveled).  

If I'm Completely Honest...

Photo: © Stan Banos

Yeah, sad to say, pretty much my M.O. as well- get mad, rant and rave for a while, then go back to leading my life of quiet desperation. Sure, sometimes I'll actually push back, and sometimes even push back a little harder as do we all- but for the most part...

The Problem With The World

Good Ol' Chuck never made it to the 21st century; god, he would've hated it. And while he didn't offer the following as a prediction, he was always pretty... prescient. "The problem with the world is that intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

-Charles Bukowski

News you don't like can be labeled "Fake News," and facts you don't want to believe can be replaced with the alternative facts of your choice. Back in the day, when people didn't know something, they tended to defer to those who actually... did! Now, actual knowledge of any given subject matter can be considered antithetical to the correct desired answer, and feelings Trump wisdom...

"Look Ma..."

"NO Hands!"     Photo: © Stan Banos

Not uncommon to hear people say there's no one in the driver's seat in San Francisco: tsunami wave store and car robberies, hard core drug addiction rampant in the streets, tent cities blocking sidewalks, filth, litter and human feces everywhere... Yeah, we got it all- in droves! One thing ya don't hear much about though is... our self driving cars; yup, amidst all the squalor- we got those! 

For several years now, we've had a horde of white, EV Chevy Bolts, all quite cute and individually named (see hood), driving about bedecked with rather complex technology, a driver, and one passenger beside him with requisite laptop. A common, everyday site until rather recently, when I first noticed, and gasped, at one very significant difference- gone was the human element; beta beast mode testing had finally arrived!

Sightings were rather rare at first, but then in one week I noticed a half dozen, then a full, and then became determined to get a decent shot of this modern day anomaly before becoming a common, so what occurrence of the future. Try as I might, I just couldn't manage a decent shot until finally having it land at my very lap after a long fruitless walk one lovely summer weekend, returning home directly across the street. Granted, not the most thrill inducing image imaginable- but it gets the point across. Driverless cars will soon become de rigueur everywhere, but for now, they're still quite a novelty as they stop, turn and drive on by sans the human touch. And so far, it's all good- uhhh... unless your home's on fire!

ADDENDUM: WHOOPS!

ADDENDUM... X2!!

He's So Screwed!

So very, very screwed. Orange man is toast. 
Seventy plus years of doing whatever the fuck he wants, whenever the fuck he wants, to whoever he fucking wants, finally... fucking... ends!

Make no doubt there will be repercussions- serious, violent repercussions from his most fervent cult followers all to placate his puerile, vindictive pathology. What else can one expect when a seventy year old child who has never been punished, never told "No" is given the magic wand, only to be told he must someday give it back...

F-Stop Twentieth Anniversary Issue!

It's been twenty or so years since my Pet Cemetery photos were featured in f-Stop Magazine. And they've been rightfully celebrating their longevity by asking those of yore to make a short return appearance and report on what they've been doing since (and I'm honored to do so)...

And Nobody Seems To Notice, Nobody Seems To Care....

I've no doubt posted this years ago, but worth reposting every damn year just as a reminder. It's a lesson in... Civics; a self contained class that should be played in every middle school classroom (especially in Florida). Funny as hell, and sadder still- cause the joke's on us, and we just don't seem to listen, or learn, or even care...

Laughs throughout, truth to power starts at 7:25.

Unknown And Underappreciated?

Photo: © Stan Banos

Like countless others, I too am dreading the inevitable violent repercussions of Trump's MAGA madmen as the former POTUS and career grifter and con man cajoles them to action as he is finally (FINALLY!) being made to pay for the crimes and malfeasance of his own repeated undertakings.

Recently, this guy provided some small measure of solace reminding me of a much preferred brand of madness, the comic kind, as in the comic madman once known as... The Unknown Comic!

In My Dreams And Delusions...

This man would be POTUS, and globalization hating Trumpists would be some of the first in line to vote for him...

The Dog Days Of August

Photo: © Stan Banos

That's right, it's August, so kick back and enjoy the hazy, lazy days of summer when all ya wanna do is set a spell, chill and lazily watch the world go by- I get ya! Just remember to dress appropriately, stay hydrated, and don't get your temperature all up just cause...

As of 2018, twenty of the last 22 years were the warmest on record, and they've only gotten warmer since- with JULY 2023 "THE HOTTEST MONTH EVER RECORDED ON EARTH." Rest assured, Republicans will more than likely be throwing snowballs on the Senate floor yet again this coming winter- it's all so reassuring; so calmly set your mind at ease as our planet slowly simmers while: glaciers and ice sheets disappear en masse, frozen tundra melts, plumes of methane are released, island nations drown, coral reefs are eradicated, storms increase in intensity, wildfires consume ever larger swaths of our remaining forests and temperatures continue to soar unabated...