I Don't Understand...

 And I don't think I want to... 

There's a Pokemon Convention/Celebration/Championship currently in San Francisco. I don't know much, if anything about it, other than being some kind of cartoon character game/creation that seems to be quite the money maker. Now, I can understand parents taking their six year olds to it, what I can't understand are all the twenty year olds lumbering about with armloads of hundreds of dollars of swag, smiling away, looking as if they were finally released from their basements for their first taste of sunshine since puberty- all for something I would have been thoroughly embarrassed to have not left in the rear view mirror years before entering freshman year of high school!

People in this country are dying from not having the money necessary for routine life saving operations, and people and babies the world over from Afghanistan to Gaza to Sudan are dying from not having the most basic nutrition and medicines to stay alive, thanks to the gutting of US Aid (.5 of 1% of the total US budget) so that a Nazi saluting billionaire could gleefully claim he eliminated government fat while not touching a single cent from our bloated military budget (soon to be well over a trillion US dollars), so that yet another billionaire could get the public's mind off his pedophile past by starting a completely unnecessary and illegal war he had already resoundingly lost a month in- and has not the slightest on how the hell he's getting us out 'cause he's just too damn busy personally handpicking matching drapes and fondling his Corinthian columns! 

I-just-don't-get-it.

Wild Horses

That's right, America's symbol of freedom, the wild Mustangs of the West; get 'em by the thousands for pennies on the dollar- perfect for someone's dining room table, all thanks to... 
Great American Orange Man!

I Wanna Live...

In this girl's universe!

Cool, Calm, Rational

No hyperbolics, zero partisan rants, just rational, logical in your face, common sense- a lovely change of pace on the insane card we've all been dealt...

Fight Song!

I'd gladly follow her into any battle with this song in the lead- a beautifully infectious, somewhat quirky, and highly melodic song (with a long convoluted history) as are many in Sinead's repertoire. Her rendition captivating and life affirming- as was she...

The Nerd Reich

Ce La Vie...

Really enjoyed this (Celui qui tombe), not even the music (which I didn't particularly) could stop me from liking it. And it works on so many levels- as both sculpture and dance, love and confusion, and anything and everything we experience in life, art, and loss...

Feeling Groovy!

Really need to get my mind off the usual lunacy we are forced to live with on a daily basis, so how 'bout a nice lighthearted musical melody to soothe the nerves and bring in the weekend... 

So all you younger readers, aspiring musicians, and sailors trapped on aircraft carriers for almost a year with no goddamn end in sight, eating a hamburger patty with a scoop of rice (then hoping to find a working toilet) because of an illegal war meant to take our minds off a bunch of files, photos, tapes and videos that implicate our POTUS and so many of his dearest friends in an international pedophile ring- this one's for you!

The Tell Tale Heart

So... Trump, with the aid of the Secret Service, plays his little, Top Secret, Three Card Monty, Now Ya See Me, Now Ya Don't, food container/airplane disappearing act to avoid a possible Iranian assassination attempt. Deftly played! And let's just forget those loser reporters in the decoy plane that were purposely put in harm's way to secure his safety. 

But how, why would such highly detailed details of such a TIPPY TOP SECRET Operation be so quickly made known unto you, me, or... the Iran who would so longingly love to kill him!?!?!? Who within Trump's Top Secret entourage leaked the plans of his Top Secret Abracadabra Escape Plan?!? Must be one heckuva BIGLY investigation the size of Air Force One itself looking into it- Call, Jeanine Pirro!!! THAT IS ONE HELLUVA SECURITY BREACH!!!

I bet once Cap'n Kash and The Boyz find the scurrilous dog of a traitor, they'll shove him right in the very same maximum security cell with the infamous pool knifer, or worse yet- The Sandwich Executioner! And I wouldn't, couldn't be happier...

Who, oh who, could it possibly be!?!?

You Throw A Party, And...

 What I have to remind myself- ad infinitum...

The Joys Of Retirement

Photos: © Stan B.

I still wake up giddy most days, two-thirds of a year in, retirement has certainly not lost its sheen! Don't know if a return to employment will mar the scenery at some inopportune time hence, but for now... 

One of the things I find (that I could in no way foresee) is how in the moment I am now allowed to be, to experience, to feel! No longer consumed by time restraints, one can now truly relax, enjoy the moment- free of schedule or time limit. Weekends, holidays, even vacations are all finite, so that even while enjoying, one is forever aware of the ever present temporal restrictions. Life is forever consumed by the accountings of everyday life, the eternal ticking of the clock, the push to get things done, before...

Being free of that particular anxiety and apprehension is liberating indeed, and can even lead to more thoughtful and contemplative photographs, and perhaps more important, definitely more important- if I don't get the photograph... at least I fully enjoyed the moment itself! Felt it, breathed it, took it in and experienced it! There's always another day, and another picture- up until there isn't, and then... I needn't worry that possible return!

Trump Dump

We all lead busy lives- so just in case ya didn't catch the art phenomenon of the year... 

It sold for $1800, if we would have gotten our promised tariff dividend- that would have left the buyer with $200!

Helluva Week In Review!

If ya listened to the news this week one woulda swore that 60,000 Africans crossed the sea into Europe and invaded Spain by force. Actually, the news headline shoulda been- 60,000 Africans emigrate to... Africa! Ceuta (where the temporary immigrants emigrated to) is a city in Africa that Spain just happens to occupy, after taking it from Portugal, who forcibly took it from the rightful natives. Spain has another such colony (Melilla) in the country of Morocco (which is none too happy about either situation)- also in the continent of... Africa.

Meanwhile, Sammy The Bull Gravano, was interviewed by the FBI to come up with the goods on the lowdown over- "86" and The Seashells (never did like their harmonies)! Apparently, a former mob prosecutor was nearly hospitalized keeling over in laughter...

Perhaps that complete and utter embarrassment may have played a role in Jeanine Pirro joining AA dropping her 'vandalism case' against a former Olympian. Seems even a working drunk has a better sense of reality once the fog lifts than a dry one!

Meanwhile, hated by some, applauded by many- Dr. Fauci also had an interesting week. I thought him to be the voice of reason during Covid, until... his little scrap with Rand Paul (a man I so thoroughly detest- and Fauci forced me to applaud) when Fauci insisted that Paul had to get the vaccine to be thoroughly immune- even though he had already contracted Covid and endured its consequences! Curly haired doctor, one- short doctor, zero. Then Fauci went on to swear that the virus research center in Wuhan had nothing to do with Covid research! Curly haired doctor, two- short doctor, zero! 

Finally- can't leave w/o mentioning The Fact Attack in DC, cause pretty soon we'll all be too dumb to even find a museum, let alone remember what it's actually for...

But hey, ya know what they say... Leave 'em Laughing!!!