Why?

Photo: © Stan Banos

Love this photo, personally idiosyncratic as it may be. The most desperate of people spilling out their most intimate of feelings in the city's most overlooked and unseen nooks and crannies. This one written out in... toothpaste? Who was the person who wrote it, who betrayed them, and... why?

Wings of Desire Redux

Well, I've yet to see the Gary Winogrand doc anywhere, but did get to see an old friend this weekend- and it's looking fine! Wim Wenders Wings of Desire got a multi year 4k restoration that brings this B&W (and color) masterwork back to its pristine origin. Hadn't seen it in some time (even forgot that Peter Falk was in it) and it was amazing to see Wall Era Berlin come to life again (they're back in vogue, ya know). It held up quite well, but also had a good laugh at the stereotypical complaint of how European "art" movies are always inundated with serious looking people talking pretentiously to themselves. I suppose the younger me found it a welcomed relief from the usual American car crashes, now I find both a tad tedious- not to take anything from it...

One of the things I so love about the flick (in addition to just plain looking at it) is that it is a contemplation, a celebration of those things small and ordinary in life, those things so often overlooked that make everyday life so worth living, and experiencing- some of the same things that certain people with light capturing devices try to highlight and share...

Otherwise, it can just be a matter of:

Photo: © Stan Banos

Photo Eye Daily

Photo: ©John Meyers

I've said it before- if ya don't subscribe to Photo Eye Photo Book Daily- you're really missing out on discovering some really great photographers- and the occasional good deal! For instance, never heard of either John Meyers or Lars Tunbjork- both formidable photographers, and a Bill Burke book for... $20- I'm in! 

Photo: © Lars Tunbjork

Mark Peterson- Eugene Smith Grant

Photo: © Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson's news images are quite noteworthy to be sure, what I find particularly "noteworthy" however are how Trump supporters' comments mock both the images and the award itself as yet another "liberal" hoax and attack on their cherished beliefs and... "freedoms." 

Meanwhile, with all the backlash against anything even remotely... "intellectual," I'm waiting for our first official book burning- I'm somewhat surprised it hasn't happened yet... perhaps we have the internet to thank.

It Just Never Stops... EVER!!!

Yeah, it's been going on for years, decades... longer than I've been alive. But then the frequency and frivolity really got outta hand until it's become almost (almost) "comical." White folk going completely outta their ever lovin' way to get in other people's (ie- those considerably darker) business for no real, rational, discernible reason. As if unjustified police shootings and racially biased voter suppression still isn't enough...

All 1- 2- 3- 4 of these racially biased latest examples happened within-a-period-of-a-week!

Yeah, Well...

Been saying it for years- Would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to have Elizabeth Warren President of these Semi-United States! But unless she figures out a way to effectively counter, and get past our current POTUS and his juvenile name calling- she will continue to get pummeled long before she even enters the ring, to the extent that he won't even need the Electoral College to save his orange spray tanned ass.

Welcome to Empire 2020 folks- A land, a time when science, facts, and common sense no longer matter, that small maniacal slice of time when Ignorance x Arrogance rule supreme and herald the inevitable economic, societal and environmental collapse of most of what we once knew. All told, it was an interesting ride at that...

Work Worth Remembering...

Photo: © Joel Sartore

Photography- the instrument, the technology, the very essence of how we best capture the heart and soul of the moments we deem most worth remembering in our lives. Many photographers like to think that at least some of our photographs will be worth reflecting upon long after our departure from this fleeting mortal coil. Joel Sartore needn't ponder the inherent value of his work, despite the fact that its very size and scope borders on insanity.

In a future condemned to environmental collapse, his work will testify to all that we have lost, and all that we have caused to lose; each and every photograph of The Photo Ark a testament to what we were given, and what we sacrificed to our own greed, shortsightedness and stupidity...

AT THE FAIR!

Usually, I hate, Hate, HATE when someones mugs for the camera. But this guy brings a smile to my face every time. From the tip of his Super Hero mask and goggles (complete with nostril harness), to the wires that appear to run from small battery packs on either hip, right to the very base of his winky- and let's not forget those complementary matching doilies on either side! Not sure what the calligraphy signifies- but one BIG Thumbs Up!

HURRY! HURRY!! HURRY!!! That's right folks, years in the making; forget the rumors, threats and back door dealings- this is

 The Photo Event everyone's been waiting on...

OK, OK, so it's a goddang BLURB- how excited can one get? Yeah, it is, what it is. That said, I'm kinda thrilled to see just how well these guys stand up all assembled under the same roof! After repeated rejections over the years of trying to get any of 'em published, it's good to see that they most certainly... Represent! 

Granted, AT THE FAIR may not exactly be everyone's cup o' tea. But content matter aside, these images live up to the aesthetic considerations that go into any "good" or "serious" photograph- and humorous as some may well be (and I did tend to edit towards the lighter side), I think there's an obvious stretch of humanity that runs throughout the series. I'm neither Gay, nor into S&M- but if you can't step back and see just a wee bit of yourself in the continuing insanity that is the human race, you're either neck deep in denial or just not a very fun person to begin with...

Not sure what either of their super powers would be, but I'd definitely see the movie!  Photos: © Stan Banos

Good Thing Global Warming Is... A Hoax!

Or Michael could have been, like, ya know... BIG! 

Giant fucking freak storm after freak storm- but Repubs won't dare utter the words "Climate Change" even as their constituents float by on their furniture. And this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. All the warning signs are going off big time all at once: ice caps melting at unprecedented levels, sea levels rising, oceans and atmosphere warming; aboriginal peoples all over the world, be they on ice, sand or jungle undergrowth all full well know it; we're diving head first, right smack into some serious world-wide catastrophic shit! And god help us all when it all hits the breaking point and we go into... free fall- cause Donny The "Self Made Billionaire" doesn't give a flying fucking shit cause he won't be around. Pretty fucking funny, huh?

Remember... The Future Is Fiber Optics?

We paid B-B-Billions for our fiber optic tech, it's in the ground (like right now), and it's lying pretty much dormant; even though it's the safest, fastest, most reliable and... cheapest way of transferring data for our telecommunications needs and devices. So why have we abandoned it in favor of tech which has already and yet to be proven carcinogenic tendencies?

Two weeks ago I didn't know what the hell 5G was, and just figured it the inevitable march of progress. One week later, I found out that at least some of what I had researched wasn't quite true- mainly cause the technology is so new and is just now in the process of being deployed (without the proper, needed testing)! Currently, my wife and I have started rallying the troops to fight a 5G transmitter which is slated to be located right outside our bedroom window, which will sautee us in high intensity microwave radiation 24/7. And I've already discovered that they hadn't notified anyone in our building about their intentions- a direct violation of the established legal protocol.

All the information you want to know (and more) about 5G is right here- and how to organize to defeat it in your neighborhood. Even more scientifically based info... Here!

At Least In Wrestling...

  The Bad Guy knows he's the Bad Guy, and everyone knows it's fixed.

So...

Halfway through the "Limited Investigation" (aka- The Blackout Sham), Kavanaugh or Ford have yet to be interrogated, the former has NOT been polygraphed, a whole host of witnesses have NOT been interviewed along with leads NOT followed, and turtle-man McConnell and Self-Made Billionaire Donald J. Trump certainly don't seem like they're breaking a sweat that "I fall asleep before I do anything stupid when drunk" Kavanaugh gets voted in at the end of the week. 

 

He lied about the emails, he lied about the yearbook, he lied about the "drinking games," lied about the drinking age, lied about "Blacking Out," lied about Ford's witnesses "refuting" all her allegations- and did so while soberly impersonating the nasty, vindictive drunk that he most certainly is. Why would anyone NOT believe him when he so vehemently denies an attempted rape allegation?

This is the man our POTUS and his Republican enablers have deemed...The Best of The BEST!!!

Dear BookWright...

 

Sorry guys- ya didn't make it, this cut.   Photo: © Stan Banos

I've begun putting together At The Fair- my photobook on the leather fairs in San Francisco. I'm happy to say that it's looking quite good! It's not that I ever doubted the photographs themselves, it's just that, well... after having them repeatedly rejected, over and over and over again- it was revelatory to see just how well they actually looked together! The book will be in two parts: eleven B&W photos followed by twenty one color. Yes, I think both mediums complement each other quite nicely; and why those particular numbers... why not? I could easily include more of each, or a more rounded number, or make it just color (of which I have more)- but this just seems to work nicely. 

Dealing with Blurb's bookmaking software called BookWright however has been a slightly different matter. Altogether, it's pretty damn decent... except that no matter what I've been able to do- I can't position each photograph in the exact same position on each page in a uniform manner! They're usually just a little bit... off! It hasn't seemed to matter all that much when I've gotten my previously made books in hand, but still- I don't think having a feature that can automatically lock equally sized images into the same position on successive pages is something so totally beyond today's digital realm. In fact, I would think it a necessity- it takes a helluva lot of needless time to try and center each and every one (they don't move about as seamlessly as one would hope using the margin rulers) on each and every page! 

So I sent an inquiry to Bookwright asking if I had missed something, done something wrong. No answer. So I sent another. No answer. So I was just about to send my congratulatory follow up below, when something called common sense whispered... not to, at least not until I finished, and had a copy or two. Cause something tells me, with my luck, that's the one they'd actually read, and actually respond to...

Dear BookWright,

Thank you for totally ignoring both of my inquiries regarding your book making software. With said track record, I know you won't mind my genuine non-gratitude in wishing you all to go FUCK URSELVES repeatedly, and since you'll no doubt ignore this as well (if anyone even takes the time to actually read any of these, so that they can, in fact, proceed to ignore them)... FUCK U again for good measure. 

Sincerely,

Stan Banos

Spineless Bystanders Give Nasty Drunk A Pass

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford gave very credible, very believable testimony in the AM- by the PM, it was all but thrown aside and buried. And once again- spineless, feckless Dems allowed it all to happen!

The very same afternoon after an expert witness stated she was unequivocally, 100% certain of who had attempted to rape her (while laughing in the process)- that very same man at first played the wronged victim card with waterworks challenging Florence herself, only to transform moments later into the nasty, vindictive drunk he no doubt relishes. Lindsey Graham then amplified the hype into a steroid fueled torrent of self righteous indignation not seen since Christ vs. the money lenders!

All the Dems had to do was follow Dick Durbin's lead and hammer home the one question, the only question that mattered- why is he and every Republican present Absolutely Terrified of an FBI investigation? Instead, they effortlessly squandered their opportunities asking him about... yearbooks and drinking games.

Ironically, Orrin Hatch had it right when he called this an even bigger circus than The Clarence Thomas Affair of '91- back then, the sexual predator granted Supreme Court membership was accused "only" of sexual harassment. This man was positively identified as an all out physical predator, and after all of today's faces, taunts, and outbursts (emotional and conspiratorial)... there is considerable doubt that he has the judicial temperament for any court, let alone this country's highest, and that he is quite adamant in suppressing any relevant testimony and investigation. You needn't be a law student to ask why...

90 vs. 95

No doubt some will think I've gone off the deep end with the 5G "Conspiracy." And I have no doubt that these towers will soon be ubiquitous throughout the land as they spew out 5G microwave radiation anywhere between 24 to 90GHz from transmitters every few blocks- Active Denial, the military crowd enforcement weapon that fries your skin operates at... 95GHz. Got your attention yet? 

Are you comfortable with (let's pick a nice round #) say... 50GHz calmly sauteing you from outside your bedroom window as you sleep and eat and... in your home 24/7, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year?

Lobbyist$ for several communications giants have been promoting (and winning) legislative shortcuts around current laws that regulate where and how these towers can be placed. This includes circumventing and negating what regular citizens can do legally, particularly when it comes to health concerns... and consequences.

BUT SCREW EVERYTHING I SAID...

"These firefighters developed symptoms,” says Dr. Gunnar Heuser who conducted a pilot study on firefighters at a station with cell towers. The symptoms included problems with memory, problems with intermittent confusion, problems with weakness.Their brain scans suggest even low-level RF can cause cell damage and he worries about more vulnerable groups like kids.We found abnormal brain function in all of the firefighters we examined."

5G Is No Joke!!!

T

5G is coming folks- to everyone's neighborhood. It's a much higher frequency than 4G, but doesn't travel as far- so their new microwave transmission devices are literally going to be ubiquitous... on existing electric poles, traffic signs, anywhere and everywhere in-UR-hood! One is going to be directly across the street right outside our bedroom window... NOT Good!!!

I know, I know... Big F'kn deal, right? Right! The firemen who suffered serious health effects from the cell phone towers in close proximity to their fire station didn't think it was all that funny. None of this technology, from ordinary cell phones to the oncoming 5G tech which takes radiation to a whole 'nother level has ever been properly tested concerning a host of health related problems- yeah, we're talking cancer folks!

Radiation- can't see, taste it, touch it or feel it. But it can hurt you, in a myriad of ways- Big Time! Especially children. And soon, we will all be bathing in an all time record tsunami of it 24/7...

And The Sign Said...

  

The Words of The Prophets are written on the subway walls, and tenement halls...

Photo: © Stan Banos

Photo: © Stan Banos

Photo: © Stan Banos

Photo: © Stan Banos

The ULTIMATE Scumbag SCOTUS Nominee?

Photo: © Stan Banos

Trump may be the last, dying Presidential gasp of White Supremacy to emerge from a prior century of blatant racism, bigotry and dehumanization- but his foul, criminal legacy will linger well past his personal stench and corruption. I was hoping that his rancid brand of racism would die along with him and my fellow baby boomers. But I can see that their cancer has metastasized to yet more current generations as evidenced at Charlottesville and elsewhere, and the flat out, blatant IGNORANCE so prevalent... everywhere!!!

Had the Dems any balls whatsoever, they would have long ago figured a way, some way, any way (short of some ill conceived, last minute, anonymous high school ploy) to stop lying, conniving Kavanaugh from even being considered- just as Thomas* should have been laughed out of consideration. Lying Kavanaugh wasn't even part of Trump's original grand list of Ultra-Conservative SCOTUS nominees that he so highly touted during his campaign- the one, the only reason he was thrown in post Mueller is because he views the Presidency as a position of infallible, God like supremacy... Trump's Ultimate, All Time, Get Out Of Jail Card. And everyone knows it...

ADDENDUM: Wow... Things have certainly gotten interesting!

*He who swore that he rose to success on strength of character alone, and that racism's legacy or affirmative action should never be a factor in anyone's hiring, sure knew how to pony up the phony, faux racial outrage BIG TIME when it came to slithering into his SCOTUS confirmation.

On Dreams Deferred...

Had to shoot fast on this one and approximated controls w/o glasses; thought it doomed when I realized I had shot wide open @ 1/200 f2.8- but that GR 28mm(e) is a killer, and distance plus crop factor sensor provided depth of field! Photo: © Stan Banos 

Yeah, you know the routine; ya work all year looking forward to... The Big Vacay!!! And then, month after month, week after week, day after day... it-finally-arrives! And it's well over ninety degrees the first four days, and then nothing but a solid wall of rain predicted for the next whole week and then some....................

So went VACATION 2018, VACAY From HELL!!! Aborted prematurely due to reality (was gonna drive from DC to Texas via the South and Gulf environs) . So I'm trying not to let it get to me, trying to stay calm, trying to keep relatively sane telling myself I'll get to try again- this time with visions of Spring, 2019! A new year, a fresh start, a time to regain all that was lost, and more. Yeah, well...

 

Slowly but surely adding to my SQUARED series... Photo: © Stan Banos

Of course, I always try to find the proverbial silver lining in times likes these, and expound on the revelatory insight this minor glitch has provided, the opportunity it has bequeathed, the alternative path that is now made clear to me! And, when one thinks of it in those terms, the take away becomes clearer still- ya got screwed... yet again. Big Time!!!

Well, at the very least, I got to see old friends for an evening, visit with the moms, and The Wife finally got to visit The Mutter Museum. I got a coupla photos (literally), and bought a truly great book for less than twenty bucks.

That said, I wish everyone well in the path of Hurricane Florence- I hope the results are not anywhere near the utter destruction let loose on the entire island, and people, of Puerto Rico this time, last year...

Almost forgot this guy- whose advice I should learn to follow. Photo: © Stan Banos

 

Stopping Fascism

Something to ponder in the interim... He starts 5:00 into the video, and when he does- Chris Hedges leaves-no-stone-unturned!

See Yas in... October!!!

*Photo: © Stan Banos

Travel isn't always pretty. It isn't always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart.. But that's OK. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.   -Anthony Bourdain

Haven't been on vacation since the previous Sept; originally, we were planning on Europe- Spain, Portugal, London, Paris, Berlin, The Netherlands... Some are like old friends, some I've seen bits and pieces- Portugal, I've never been. Bottom line, we just couldn't decide which to pick, and/or leave out... And with only so much time (and the thought that it may just be the last trip we'll ever afford abroad), we decided to put it on the back burner and... road trip USA, once again! Can't complain- besides, for whatever reason, always get more pictures here, than scenic Europe (though no question where ya get the better eats)!

So we're flying to NYC (gotta see the moms), then going to Philly (wife wants to see the Mutter Museum) and DC by train before we hit the road and visit my fellow Americans and Trump supporters down South, on through the Bayou and unto Texas! Yee-ha! I'll be wearing my bright red MAGA cap, well, I'll at least make sure to take my Fuck Trump button off my camera bag...

Looking forward to seeing what the South will yield photographically, culturally- my exposure being limited to those ever so brief bus trips of my youth when I would board a Greyhound for a day and a half trip to New Orleans from NYC for a one day stand to photograph Mardi Gras, then reboard the bus the very same evening for yet another joyous day and a half trip back... A four day sojourn made possible only by youth's vigor and insanity. Still remember how incredibly other worldly The Gulf's topography appeared to this NYC boy from the contours of his small bus window. Looking forward to a slightly more intimate look/see this go around...

*Got lucky on this one! Certainly, doesn't look it here, but this street corner was nothing but a hotbed of the harshest, most glaring light imaginable bouncing off that sidewalk! All I could clearly make out with my naked eye was the guy and his suitcase on the left. I could barely make out some people doing something in the middle, and a constant swirl of shadows around them. Whipped out the GR, aimed into the flaring conundrum best I could, waiting a second or two until the lights and shadows achieved some kinda "balance," and pressed the shutter. Honestly, did not expect much (technically or aesthetically)- figured nothing short of a FF sensor would have any chance surviving that gamma ray burst of a lighting scenario- and... Amazingly, instead of an instant throw away- I had something definitely worth further study. The pocket rocket somehow, some way tamed the monster highlights, I gradually coaxed as much detail from the shadows as feasible, and the composition as a whole appeared nicely in place! Not bad for a wing and a prayer coming home from work!