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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
He made for such a very singular looking fellow upon first seeing, looking out so intently upon the bay. And then I would see him again, and again and again- always at the same place with the same attire in the same manner, the orange a bit more faded than last...
I love 50's B&W film noir, the whole nether world of dames and gams (legs of the former), peepers (private dicks) and screws (prison guards). Ninety percent of the TV I watch is easily from 2 channels, PBS and a local channel that shows film noir on Thursday nights. Problem is, there's only so many of those celluloid wonders- and they sure don't make 'em like that no more...
Somehow, I read up on a movie called Dragged Across Concrete (currently streaming on Netflix). I was going to embed the official trailer, but it makes it look like a dumb ass, Grade B, cop buddy, action movie. And it gets worse, it also has... Mel Gibson, yeah, the one and only, as if there's any other. And sure enough he's accused of abusing a suspect and proceeds to whine. So I'm about to put an end to it early on when I say to my self- why would Michael Jai White be in a movie that okays police abuse? The same reaction I had when I first heard Bill Burr- oh great, another middle aged White guy yelling and complaining. No, thanks. So why were there videos of Black guys laughing uproariously at his standup? So I watched on...
Gibson mercifully under acts and has good chemistry with costar Vince Vaughn. And rather than simply going into reactionary Dirty Harry territory, it gives a pretty contemplative reflection on race, politics and the trials and tribulations of life in general. There's some serious violence for sure, but action movie it is not. If you liked A Simple Plan and American Animals where easy-peasey rapidly cascades into all hell breaks loose, chances are you'll appreciate this particular tale of woe and topsy turvy happenstance.
While I'm at it, wanted to see Oppenheimer recently, got online to get my seat (forget first come/first serve at your local googleplex these days) and was absolutely gobsmacked at the prices for a simple goddamn movie at your local movie theater- $25 and a $2.50 service fee! $27.50 for a goddamn movie!?! Ya gotta be shittin' me...
Fortunately, I was able to see it for $12 at one of the few (very few) remaining smaller, movie theaters in town. How does Hollywood expect to revive a movie going public at $25+ a pop?!?
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...
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).
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| 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...
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| "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!!
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...
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.
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| 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!
This man would be POTUS, and globalization hating Trumpists would be some of the first in line to vote for him...
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| 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...
Edward Snowden is a whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg was a whistleblower- both broke the law (Snowden currently lives in exile, while charges against Ellsberg were dropped due to legal improprieties committed during his trial) to take what they discovered directly to the American people. Both paid a price.
David Grusch however has not broken any specific law, amazingly he's managed his in house expose all by the book, and still retains his top secret military intelligence classification- which is why he often speaks publicly in generalities (he has given much more detailed testimony to Congress behind closed doors). He must first get clearance from his former/still boss on what he can say and to whom, otherwise, off to jail he will go- for a very, very long time... He has gone out to the very edge of the precipice, but he has not taken the leap- at least, not without a parachute. And I can't much say I blame him, I wouldn't particularly want to sabotage the rest of my life at his age, with a lifetime of even more debilitating harassment, decades of jail time or a fatal "accident." He's already gone well above and beyond.
Prior to appearing before Congress, he had to testify (under oath) to the Inspector General, who then interviewed other military/government officials under oath concerning Mr. Grusch. All this to ascertain Mr. Grusch's character and credibility (before being pilloried by large sections of the government, press and public as just the latest tin foil UFO whacko). Mr. Grusch is more witness than whistleblower; and as Mr. Coulthart curiously reminds us, US courts have had no problem sending people to their death on witness testimony.
I don't think the current testimony from Mr. Grusch will lead us directly to the much anticipated Disclosure where all will be revealed to the public at large. It will simply let (some of) the secret(s) out to a larger ring of government officials (ie- select members of Congress, etc) so they can cash in. But it does get us one step closer (perhaps now sooner rather than later), until real whistleblowers decide to one day forgo their jobs, pensions, freedoms and personal safety to take that extraterrestrial leap of faith. It's gonna happen, just wouldn't hold my breath...
Not her biggest fan by any means, but ya can't deny... what a voice, and what a talent! And if you have any doubt whatsoever, just listen to the first three jewels below that epitomize the very definition of sublime. Have no idea what demons haunted her mental health and well being, but goddamn, at least she was original- and didn't give a damn about celebrity or any of its trappings. She was also spot on about the Catholic Church (for which she was vilified), long before that horror story hit the mainstream, no apology was forthcoming, even when proven correct.
Yeah, R-I-P...
I usually go to different neighborhoods in San Francisco on weekends to try and keep it fresh, and lately to get the hell outta dodge (my immediate downtown zombie ghost land). Hadn't taken a decent pic in a while, so this Saturday I decided to revisit a somewhat industrial section of town that has always been rather desolate, it definitely has a different feel than the rest of the town architecturally, and different is what I wanted... but I wasn't welcoming the fact that I'd really stand out walking about and be easy prey for any gang of thieves (be they ambulatory or vehicular) looking for a quick camera heist these days. I managed a sole image of a lost soul, and shortly thereafter, decided discretion the better part of valor before deciding once again to... get the hell outta dodge.
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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
But I digress...
Because the most unusual part of the day occurred quite some time before I had even left home. Around eleven that morning, I heard a knock on my door, looked through the peephole to spot two uniforms- WTF? Have you seen your neighbor lately? Whoa! That question usually ends one way. "No, no I haven't- but I only see him like once a month, if that." A gentleman in his seventies who walks with a cane and I always made a point to say hello to. OK, thanks. An hour passes and I hear a bevy of voices outside my door followed by the sounds of things being moved about next door. I don't have to ask what's going on. An hour later I'm headed out and the stench fills my nostrils immediately upon opening the door, just before seeing the latex gloves strewn about the hallway.
It had to have been a few weeks before anyone noticed. I sure hadn't, and I was right next door- eating and sleeping probably no more than ten feet from a dead guy (yeah, our units are that small); didn't know anything, didn't smell anything... Did just make out the radio or TV late into the night- just thought it a lonely old man accompanying himself to sleep.
There's a health hazard seal on his door now, and I sincerely hope they clean the place out properly tomorrow ASAP! A bottle of Lysol can only do so much, and I'm fortunate, indeed, that none of it permeates my apt- except for a certain amount of nagging guilt. Should've bothered to get to know him better, asked if he needed help etc, etc- shoulda, woulda, coulda...
I'm betting there'll probably be a next time to make amends somewhere down the line; and then one day, no doubt, my turn to stink up the hallway good...
I'm well (well) past wondering if UFO's are... real. That's a fundamental fact, the only question remaining- why are they here? They're not just studying us, they're definitely up to something- whether they're beneficial or detrimental to humanity, that's the question. I lean to the former, then again, there are very credible reports that there's well more than a handful of various species visiting us. Are they all friendly? And are they extraterrestrial or interdimensional? One thing's for sure, they could have made us toast quite some time ago had they wanted to.
But this, this is pretty freakin' awesome to say the least; and before y'all break down laughing- Ross Coulthart is a serious journalist from Australia who started reporting on this subject matter with more than your fair share of skepticism, definitely not your typical tin hat UFO 'whacko!'
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| Funny thing is... it would actually work! |
Is coming like a... Ghost Town! The song rings in my head over and over and over again walking barren streets rampant with the ghosts of those without homes, without hope, many without their very minds... Wandering amongst the remains: a few desperate long term residents along with a sprinkling of hesitant, bewildered tourists.
Downtown San Francisco is split into two distinct parts: the business district and the commercial/shopping district. Realistically, the former didn't have a chance of reclaiming its former pre-Covid glory; not after having so heavily invested in tech, whose workers fealty to community and reality itself lies within the rectangle of their nearest computer screen. Once acclimated to working at home long term, they abandoned the urban workaday infrastructure altogether, and all the foot traffic, restaurants and other supportive businesses dried up in turn. The shopping district fared better, it was back to about 65% of its once normal self, but then the unabated shop lifting and robberies began, continued and took its toll... now, with the epidemic of recent store closures, it's down to about 40%.
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| All Photos: © Stan Banos |
I remember NYC in the seventies, when it was supposedly in its death throes- I just thought it was normal, maybe it was youth. But this is different, decidedly so, I'm watching a city metastasize and die all around me. It's visible, palpable, and it's not some outlying, marginalized neighborhood- it's the very heart and soul of downtown San Francisco (and its surrounding environs), sucked dry like a forlorn Martian landscape.
And it ain't gonna get better, before it gets worse. No one has a plan, not a one has the slightest what to do...
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| Fleeting glimpses of the remains of California dreamin'... |
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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
I sincerely hope someone (ie- EVERYONE!) is taking this threat S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y! This is catastrophe of monumental proportion, the kind which Putin must be made to understand will guarantee so called Western civilization (if it is in fact in any way civilized) to automatically implement his immediate termination, post haste. No escape, no negotiation. It would be a much more merciful death than for the thousands who would linger and suffer agonizingly slow and painful deaths from radiation sickness, but he must be made to realize that he would not be given even one furtive second to enjoy his sick, sadistic savagery...
