Vacation Rules!

Suit yourself!         Photo: © Stan Banos

It was my first day of vacation as I was catching up on some bills and paperwork, not everyone's vacation dream, but least I was home, taking my time. Then I heard this woman's voice, at first I thought it the ever reliable Shrieking Woman who lets out this piercingly abrupt, one note shriek that ends almost before it starts- unsettling at first, I'm now rather used to it's almost comical regularity. This was decidedly different, this was... sex, not the muffled through the walls wails of excitement and private exuberance- this was open the windows wide and let the world pay righteous testament to the joyous exhilaration within the contours of my uninhibited loins! Lawdy, lawdy, Mama was a wailin'! And it was Grade A moanin' too- the pitch perfect, ever so rhythmic, set your imagination free kinda moanin'. And on and on it did go... Twenty minutes, half hour. Woman was an athlete, Olympic level, no let up on intensity or frequency- and I'm trying to remember to carry the one, mind ya, on a Monday morning! Forty five minutes- Aawww, c'mon now, we've rounded the corner on human endurance here, and I've yet to hear a second voice- not that I really want to, but no one can get that excited for that length of time... solo!

So I open my windows, and the pitch perfect moans come flooding in even louder, every bit as hot and heavy as an hour ago, when a guy in the parking lot below looks up in my direction pointing above, and yells, "Porno, he does it all the time! It's crazy!" Now, I've been living here four years and I've never heard this particular show, but I'm not usually home in the AM on weekdays. An hour and a half, two hours... and she's still going strong as ever. Of course, it's a little harder fantasizing your perfect dream lover now- all that comes to mind is some old guy trying his darndest, and yet to succeed... PS- See yas in 2 weeks!

 More Than $4 Million In Gifts!

Bump Stock Jamboree!!!

Because we all need faux automatic weapons with the potential to shoot 800 rounds per second so we can all uhhh...  uhmmm... ya know... 

Potential, Wannabe Mass Murderers throughout the states can now sleep easy knowing that The Supreme Court of the United States of America has made it that much easier for them to boost their numbers tenfold next time they get a bright idea! And The Supreme Court Six who repealed the ban can all beam with pride within the hallowed halls of justice the second their deed reaches fruition and the blood starts to flow- Thoughts and Prayers!

Food For Thought...

Entire interview...

"Like A Brain Operation"

AMEN!        Photo: © Stan Banos

Really? Seriously? Four Israelis rescued; 274 Palestinians dead, of them- 64 children, 57 women, and that certainly doesn't mean that the remainder were all "terrorists," not to mention 700 wounded! Sounds more like wanton slaughter than delicately finessed surgery! 

At this point, are we still required to preface anything we say with, "Yes, I condemn the Oct 7 massacre?" Are we still required to state that Israel has the right to defend itself? Will we ever be asked if Palestinians have the right to defend themselves? Will anyone ever ask if we also condemn these ongoing, repeated massacres of Palestinian refugees? I keep hearing that all Hamas needs to do is to simply agree to the ceasefire... and yet, and yet, I actually had to do considerable digging to discover that as of 6/10- Israel has not agreed to it either!?! 

As I've said since 10/08, I ain't siding with anyone in this senseless, ceaseless seesaw towards oblivion- but I am tired of the one sided reportage, least in this country, as if the nation with the most weapons, wealth and resources have the only victims that count!

Addendum: Apparently 3 additional hostages were killed in the Israeli bombing resulting from raid... Madness!

Get It While You Can

 Photos: © Stan Banos

I have a lotta respect for "street photography," although I hold the very term in disdain, frankly because it's so often reduced to such a highly restricted fragment of all it could and should be. Street photography is now almost synonymous with images that involve the somewhat odd juxtapositions (either complementary or contrasting) of people and/or other compositional elements, or images involving juxtapositions of various lighting scenarios (highlights and shadows- "The Alex Webb Effect"). I love both, tried and done both (the latter, admittedly, not as much). 

©SB

But I've always been appreciative of a more comprehensive viewpoint (aka- Lee Friedlander): portraits, landscapes, architectural and all things serious, humorous and in between; why encourage or limit anyone to a coupla in vogue, formulaic viewpoints? Yes, develop your style by all means, then see how many (visual) places it will take you. Nothing should be out of bounds, from the faces before you to the nooks and crannies at your very feet- and all points beyond... Yeah, I wanna try and grab the whole ball of wax, knowing full well I'll come up miserably short most times, but I wanna experience how many different facets of life I can successfully capture whenever and wherever I can... for as long as I got left.

The Lying Liar... Lies?!?

He swore he'd testify, and of course, never had the slightest intention of perjuring himself during actual trial. Which is why he lied, blasphemed and went on and on unto all sorts of crazed craziness upon conclusion of every day of the trial- exactly what he wasn't allowed to do under oath. Then he swore he never (EVER) uttered the words "Lock Her Up," even though he led the charge in front of the entire world for all to see and hear (the fun starts at 8:00). Of course, that's just par for the course for someone who told some 30,573 lies just during the course of his four year stint in the White House- leaving said edifice with his Biggest Whopper ever... that the election was stolen. 

And at this point, with all the recounts (many with handpicked vote counters- who sometimes came up with more votes for... Biden), those who still choose to believe that particular piece of demonstrably proven nonsense are those who purposely choose to believe demonstrably proven nonsense. They constitute some of the same people who actually believed in a Hillary Clinton Child Sex/Pizza Ring- and if that wasn't Total Gonzo Bat Shit Crazy Supreme- some of the same people that actually waited in Dealey Plaza (Lord, I can't make this kinda crazy up!) for a reanimated JFK, Jr. to appear and somehow help lead Herr Trump back into the White House!

Recently when asked about his relationship with god and how he prays, Trump conveniently reconfigured the conversation into how Evangelicals are so believing in and committed to- not necessarily God, but him! And always, whenever he talks about the public addressing him, they always refer to him as... "Sir." Male or female, Black or White, rich or poor, whenever anyone in the good ol' US of A addresses him in his particular recounting- it's always prefaced with... "Sir." He seemingly has the politest constituency of all time, except, of course, when he encourages them to fight at his rallies, or the Capitol building, or in the days yet to come when he alludes to the unrest that the public may incur should things not go quite their (his) way... Then again, I guess that could be construed as proper payback for those of us so uncaring that we said nothing when the FBI tried to assassinate him at his very home!

Naturally, we haven't heard the last of these fabulous tales of the insanely insane- Trump is rife with them, and his followers more than willing to up the ante of craziness, both in what they believe or make up themselves. Insanity has become the norm, and when a so called leader can say absolutely anything, anytime without fear or conscience... and then deny it without consequence- a good majority of the public is in very grave danger, the very position we may well find ourselves in this November!

Autonation

'63 Thunderbird- Flat out Gorgeous.          Photos: © Stan B.

Dawned on me that maybe I should do a small zine on cars, and I like my cars the way I like my watches (and a lotta other things)- vintage. Many of the photos will just be snaps that make the featured car look good, taken in 'au natural' outdoor environments- not in auto shows; others will be close ups of uniquely 'adorned' (stickers, license plates, etc) autos- it will constitute a completely separate enterprise from my Bippin' presentation.

Of course, the ideal environment to have this come to fruition would be LA, but I'll make do with what I can get here in NORCAL- actually, first wrote NOCAL... can ya tell I'm no native? Right now I got around thirty, I'll make it happen when I got around 3 dozen/forty...

'65 Mustang Fastback- Every line, just pure perfection!