Think You Know Anything?

I thought so, I thought I at least knew something. And once again... I-don't-know-shit.

What happens when the 'alternatives' we have been led to believe to be good, safe, and sustainable, are every bit as onerous and deadly as the ones they replace? What happens when the "good guys" are every bit as as duplicitous as the bad...

Once you get over the narrator's droll, monotonous, lacklustre voice over (yes, I almost stopped watching at first)- the information presented is the most maddening, informative and disheartening I can recall to date. All I really expected were scenes and information that would simply reinforce what I already 'knew' and believed, perhaps with a couple of new fun facts and arresting scenics thrown in. Instead, Planet Of The Humans (particularly the second half) toppled my world view- and not for the better. 

The surreal final scene is one of iconic sadness and horror- how did this wondrous planet beget such soulless creatures?

PS- If you watch anything during this pandemic layover- this is the film to watch! And if you take away anything of note from this blog over the course of the past 15 years, let this be it- and be sure to inform and share with others...

ADDENDUM: I want to thank those who wrote back to alert me about the very serious  criticism concerning this movie. It seems that there are several out of date and/or factual errors/questions concerning the accuracy of its information. Objections noted! Ideally, those concerns would be addressed with updates/corrections at the end of said movie.

The criticism that it did not address the fossil fuel companies is a non starter- yes, it most obviously assumes that you are already aware of that industry's long and well documented history of continued deception and destruction. And as the first link in this post notes (a documentary that received far less attention)- fossil fuels may not even be the major cause of so much of our pollution, the meat industry and its many tentacles may hold that insidious distinction!

Many of the things addressed in the movie are, in fact, cause for concern and further study as far as effectiveness and efficiency, eg- biomass. Anyone remember how corn ethanol was going to be an environmental savior? And personal attacks are always of particular concern- although it's always important to investigate the investigators. And when you come right down to it... Yes, population control is a key factor that needs to be confronted and controlled- nothing is going to curtail world wide pollution and environmental degradation unless this is addressed; that in itself is most definitely not racist, although it can be implemented in the most racist of manner(s).

All said and done, if this film causes more controversy, more study... more action concerning our current environmental cataclysm- then all well and good! Because one thing can't be denied- the very ending of that movie, as singularly gut wrenching as it is... is happening each and every day!

 

Don't Know About You...

 

Photo: © Stan Banos

But this shelter in place, self quarantine, call it what you will social isolation with no way out is getting way old, way fast...

Now, I'm not exactly a yahoo Trumpazoid, but we are going to eventually resort to some modicum of modified "normalcy." Ideally, we should have all been tested by now, but almost two months later that is not to be, and no one's, as of yet, naming dates. I've been lucky throughout this: not dead (or lost anyone near and dear), or even sick (far as I know)- and am still on salary. Others have been nowhere near as lucky, and if not hurting health wise, are in dire danger economically. We can't hunker down indefinitely trying to ride hide this out- and what of the possible second and/or third wave of virus?

The problem is, of course, that NO ONE knows exactly what to do- no one alive has been through this before. And it hasn't helped that we have a bumbling, self sabotaging, pompous fool of a wannabe leader who dropped the ball long before the game even began, and has yet to find it.

So yes, careful and cautious we must remain- but we must also start to prepare and ready our resurgence, if only in dribs and drabs where least affected. I'm not for opening every casino, tattoo parlor and nail salon, but we do need to judiciously reemerge from our bunkers and unto the light. Science and government can and should lead the way, restrictions need to be incorporated and enforced. But right now... we need a game plan! We need some vision of a way forward- guidelines, benchmarks... something! 

Trump got rid of our Pandemic Response Team, he has quickly backtracked, denying he did any such thing- but his overall policy is simple enough... if it's not a moneymaker, get rid of it! That is not government, that is penny wise, pound foolish Economics 101. This is when a responsible government grabs the reins, shows the way, and leads! So far we the people have been pretty compliant and cooperative, but without a tentative strategy at the very least, without that carrot at the end of a stick showing a way out- people are going to start resorting to their own stop gap measures. And that's always been a pretty virulent virus of concern...

Politics & Inanity Trump Health

Photo: © Stan Banos

Two months ago Trump was saying "within a couple of days we'll be down to zero."

Then he said, "Nobody knew there would be a pandemic or epidemic of this proportion."

Which then changed again to, "I always knew this was a pandemic."

But, hey- it's all good! Cause in the end... "I don't take any responsibility at all."

Photo: © Stan Banos

And if that doesn't already Trump all semblance of common sense and veracity- 
now Dr. Feelgood is touting sticking a flashlight with a chaser of Lysol up our royal butts!!!
  
   ADDENDUM:  I-KID-U-NOT...

$32Million Per Hour, Per Year!

Photo: © Stan Banos

Well, who knew? Talk about fun facts! 

So when you go about your daily life in these semi-United States (both now and post pandemic) wondering why: our roads and bridges are falling apart, our schools so bad and colleges unaffordable, our doctors and hospitals lacking basic essentials, our citizens so often lacking proper, life supporting health care or somnambulating homeless throughout our streets... 

Now, you will no longer have to burden yourself with that ever so perplexing question as to why any and all of those things (and countless more) continue to perplex and burden us all! And not to worry- all will be properly redistributed and funded once the masks all come off. No doubt! Now, isn't that... "liberating?"

Covid Bushido

Talk about PPE!   Photo: © Stan Banos

Whiling Away The Hours, Days, Nights, Weeks, Mo...

 

The now requisite empty Covid street scene...  Photo: © Stan Banos

So...What you been doing of recent? Tiger King already seems like a full pandemic ago. I was already living in semi-suspended animation since the wife split of late, but this extended shelter in place business has taken it to a whole 'nother dimension of stagnant unreality. Still, I've only remained completely sequestered two days thus far- have to get out to stretch the legs and get some fresh air (and when really lucky, smoke one of my few remaining cigars). I only wear a mask when on the bus, working with my client, or food shopping. And I've been trying to get some photos but, as previously alluded to... fewer people = slimmer pickings. 

Obviously, this is a good time to play catch up- and that's a good part of exactly what I've been up to. So at various times you'll find me: restoring my damaged negs (would take a coupla pandemics just to finish that), scanning yet to be edited panoramic negs from my old Widelux, and attempting to catalog my negs (damaged and undamaged) into some small modicum of semi orderliness. On some nights, I've been up to the late wee hours of the morn doing the first on said list.

For down time, I've been trying to make some kinda headway on American Witness, and the third season of Ozark was a particularly guilty pleasure. And then there's... YouTube- that inexorable rabbit hole of infotainment, cheap thrills and lost time extraordinaire. If that ain't the exact formula for what's needed most right now, don't know what is. These past weeks I've witnessed: various solids getting squished in a hydraulic press, sperm whales sleeping vertically(!), ghost town views of Rome and NYC, 'vintage' championship boxing matches from lightweight to heavy, con artist martial artist 'masters' exposed and beat down, body building steroid freaks, the origins of Nazi Fanta soda, Japanese trying to pass as Chicanos y Chicanas (or Germans as Indians), and I finally (finally) know why White Castle isn't a national, worldwide franchise! Speaking of franchises, if all that doesn't constitute a  professorship level of knowledge at any Trump University branch near you- don't know what does...

And lord knows I shouldn't complain since I am (probably) healthy, and one of the impoverished few, lucky enough to still be getting paid- thank you, UNION (SEIU 1021); but boy, gosh, golly- do I miss a good cappuccino! Get Well, NYC...

San Francisco Picture Postcard

Photo: © Stan Banos

I tend to a client w/disabilities on the other side of town 3X a week, and to get some exercise, I've been walking there, mixing up the route each day as I go. I've lived here 20 years now and didn't even know this place existed- could be wrong, but I don't think most native San Franciscans do either. So you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon Ina Coolbrith Park- in all its tiny glory, hidden atop a hill in (not so) plain sight. It basically consists of a couple of (very) short, winding walkways which dramatically lead unto a drop dead gorgeous view of the downtown skyline amidst a petite Garden of Eden- pretty freakin' surreal! San Francisco is such a uniquely beautiful city, least far as the US of A is concerned; pity that now flush in money, vast swaths of it have been allowed to degenerate into an open air toilet...

Think I'll escape there a few days, park myself on one of the (unoccupied) benches, and try to make some headway on American Witness.

COVID 19 Is Gonna Kill Us All!

Photo: © Stan Banos

Well, Actually... no. But I don't think anyone would've believed the predicament we're in now just a couple of months ago, even though it's been one of the long held tenets of climate change as we compete more and more each day with our remaining wild environment. The misnamed Spanish Flu (it didn't originate there) was ever the more deadly, with fatalities in the millions as opposed to the hundreds of thousands of Covid 19. If you caught it, your chances were not good, it was so horrific that once over, populations worldwide actively chose to forget the whole episode... ASAP. Corona has not been anywhere near as deadly, but are diseases just like it going to be the repetitive new norm?

The very fact that China's "wet market" (the very place from where this disease, and others like it, were most likely dispersed from) has already been reopened displays that leadership's lack of will to do anything about preventing future pandemics from occurring. Mainland China's abuse and slaughter of wild (and domestic) animals (eg- rhinos, elephants, sharks, bears, pangolins and yes, even dogs) has already very much been a world wide concern; now it is something that threatens not only the lives of the animals involved- but of people throughout the entirety of the planet. China's leaders must be made answerable to this callous disregard of human, and animal life!

If You're Into Landscape...

Paul Sisson-

Not So Far From Here

Remember the great outdoors? Well then, have at it- 
Subjectively, Objective. 

Hhmmmm....

Didn't give Epstein all that much attention- another rich perv with celebrity contacts... But once you get past the initial shock of this guy's unruly mat of age defying, greyless hair- he does ask some awfully intriguing questions! And who does have all those videos?!?!?!

PS- Well if ya DON'T wanna talk about that... then it's back to this babbling idiot-
"I basically did what the memo said. And the memo was — the memo was pretty good memo from the standpoint that he talked, I guess, I didn’t see it yet.”

With Or Without?

Photo: © Stan Banos

I think a lotta people thought that everyone staying at home would open up a slew of apocalyptic, end of the world photo ops. Who doesn't love eerie, isolation themed, big city vistas?  And in some cases, it has generated just that. But for the most part, empty streets pretty much depict... empty streets- the fewer people out there, the fewer opportunities to document instances that are  truly memorable.

When I saw this particular piece of graffiti,* I immediately thought possible photo op. So I set about framing it from several vantage points, and just as I found the spot and was about to press the shutter, I noticed the person pictured about to enter the frame. The human element can so often be the one deciding element that can make or break a photo, the icing on the cake that can make it rise from mediocre, to exceptional. And these days when people are a particularly scarce commodity on the street, I bided my time, counted my blessings, and pressed the shutter when I thought most opportune... Got it!

 

Fortunately, with a few years of experience under my belt, I then proceeded to take the shot I was originally attracted to, just-in-case. And good thing too- instead of being the icing on the cake, the human element in this particular composition is extraneous, unnecessary- a distraction from the the main subject. It also seems that one of the most popular 'street photography' memes these days is: find a sign, wait for a person to walk by and... Voila- Instant, genuine, bonafide 'street photograph' extraordinaire... a veritable formula of mediocre photographic repetitiveness. And that's not to say that the human free photo pictured here is all that, but it is the better of the two!

Of course, if I was Paul Graham, I wouldn't have had  to choose between the two. Rather, I would just print them as a diptych- and let the critics ooh and ahh about the 'genius' of depicting the passage of time...

*When we usually think of those "maintaining order," we think of those on top who suppress those beneath- not those of us unattuned and unconcerned who allow it to occur daily.

Erykah Badu

Think WE Got It Bad Now?

  Photo: © Stan Banos

Hey- Who knew? I mean... uhhh, yeah, I coulda told ya that!

Soft White Underbelly...

When I first noticed Soft White Underbelly, I was intrigued, but a tad leery. And just who was this gym fit, blonde, corporate photographer who seemed to get his off time kicks photographing the poorest of the poor Black and Brown folk? Just what are his motives, and what if anything is the endgame?  A lotta questions to be sure, but as I've begun watching, one thing is definitely for sure- his videos strike a nerve, are definitely addictive, and very much worth watching... Again, I may change my mind when all is said and done, but at this point, I'll very much take him at his word...

From the half dozen or so I've watched, I've seen: people repentant, people in pain and even people seemingly at peace with the very havoc they helped create. And here's where the whole veracity thing jumps in- how do ya know if these people are even approximating the truth? What's to stop them from making it up whole cloth for a couple of bucks to get there next hit? Legit questions. 

And all I can tell ya is this: I met a lotta people from similar backgrounds, only younger in their journey- from grade school to HS age. Yeah, even then, some will lie straight to your face on just about anything. I'd hesitate to dismiss anything out of hand, but always took things with a generous grain of salt. Then I'd go read their records outlining the details of how they ended up in my classroom (for students officially classified as "Extremely Emotionally Disturbed And Socially Maladjusted")- one fucking horror story after another. I can't give you any percentages on how many people are born a certain way, and how many are "a product of their environment," but I'd like to see you, me, anyone grow up any the better after what any of these kids have gone through, and continue to go through... And a goddamn miracle it is that any of them, do in fact, somehow manage to escape the very hell they were thrown into.

The first video is one of Redemption- hard fought, unheralded and ever so fragile. And one can only hope it is allowed to prosper, despite the odds that society has constructed not to nurture it, but to quash it wholesale.

Many of these are hard to watch and listen to, the second video (and subsequent follow up), almost had me to the point of tears... Please Click: Watch this video on YouTube, if not immediately available.

 

FUCK THE ENVIRONMENT!!!

 It's what they do BEST...

(especially when no one is paying attention)!!!

Zombie Nation

Photo: © Stan Banos

For a while there I thought I might be coming down with something since I was feeling kinda sluggish, but since nothing has come of it as of yet, I guess it's little more than the overall malaise of living this new found, automaton like existence of self quarantine. I still need to attend to a client with disabilities a few hours every week at her place, and on my way I decided to take a short cut through the Tenderloin. San Franciscans will regale one with how back in the day cops were encouraged to patrol there by restaurant owners with the lure of a free steak dinner- well, the steaks have long gone, but even on the best of days, the ambience still remains...

Two blocks into my little detour, I quickly decided to abandon said game plan as I was walking amidst a major Hollywood, Zombie movie set of the Corona Apocalypse. The sidewalks, streets, gutters and alleyways were crawling with what literally looked like the walking dead far as the eye could see in every direction possible. Just being flat out honest about what it looks like when you have an entire neighborhood hunkering down on the inside and over run by filthy, slow motion, drug addled, mentally ill denizens on the outside; not in a city devoid of cash and resources, but in one completely awash in $$$! I really did want to amble about and take all kinds of photos just to show y'all what I'm talking about, but just like in any zombie movie- they may be slow, but when you're surrounded, they-will-catch-up-to-ya! But do come down and see for yourself should you disbelieve...

Now I'm not saying this just to rank on those less fortunate. There's plenty of blame to go 'round in this city where you're more likely to step in human shit than that of your neighbor's dog. There's no excuse for a city that allows people to live exist like this even under 'ordinary' circumstances: the homeless need jobs and homes, addicts need programs- and those demonstrably incapable of caring for themselves need to be institutionalized... Full Stop! Responsibility comes full circle.

Basically, what exists right there, right now, is an open air breeding ground for The Corona Virus...

Pre-Pandemic Prep

Yeah, hearing about anything and everything Corona-Covid 19 is just about pouring out of every orifice and then some- and I have no idea if I even have the goddamn thing! But the podcast below is one of THE MOST informative pieces that you'll hear, read, listen to and/or watch about the current pandemic response from start to finish, particularly as it relates to these semi-United States. Relative, vastly informative, and definitely not what you're gonna hear from any mainstream news source anywhere- and speaking of informative...

Proposed sign to be displayed at every McDonald's and fast food restaurant currently open:

We don't supply our workers with Sick Leave, so there's a good chance your server came to work despite being sick...

 

Mea Culpa...

Every once in a great while, Stan manages to put his dumbass foot in his mouth- royally! And when he does... I think it's important to own it ASAP and fess up- and such was the case on my recent rant concerning the upcoming Chromantic exhibition/festival. I was operating under the assumption that there was a paid entry fee- I could have sworn... but I simply should-have-checked! 

The lack of entry fee does, in fact, change everything- and I want to personally thank Stefano for maintaining an open communication line long enough to remind me of that ever important fact- and wish Chromantic what will hopefully be a very successful festival! (Original rant deleted.)

Pandemic Hooky A Go-Go

Having all this extra time is great, having everything closed- not so much. Great for reading, working on the photographic archive, and kicking back on You Tube- the ultimate entertainment/educational channel (ok, emphasis on the former).

Now the guy on the lower left of the video is pretty damn annoying (granted- but does serve a purpose*), the guy center stage- most definitely not! Bob Lazar has been: ridiculed, interrogated, harassed, slandered, raided, fired and fired at. His birth certificate, work and academic records were disappeared and his life in general has been turned upside down by his former employers who even now, decades after the fact, continue to monitor his whereabouts and raid his home on occasion for good measure. Oh yeah, he briefly worked back engineering alien craft at S4 adjacent to Area 51 (and has passed a comprehensive polygraph test)...

* Full interview sans 'Body Language Expert.' 

Ticked Off Yet!?

           Photo: © Stan Banos

Well, we all have a little more time to stay home and stew a bit now, so let's not waste the opportunity... cause I'm sure this ain't gonna end anytime soon, and there'll certainly be more on the way...

 I don't take responsibility at all.     -DJ Trump

Gotta give the guy credit- the ultimate slap back... when they let you get away with it! 

Enjoying the (lack of) leadership seesaw? After down playing 'the Democratic hoax' for weeks, and reassuring us that "Some people get better just by sitting around," we are now corrected that he "always knew it was a pandemic," nevertheless, everything is on the mend. Yesterday, Trump stated that the drug chloroquine was approved for usage against the Corona virus... it-is-not! Anyway, seriously, what does it all matter when...

"It's going to disappear. One day, it's like a miracle, it will disappear." 

Maybe, just maybe, as the economy tanks and people around them start to die, the veil will start to rise even among his hard core supporters, and they'll begin to realize that they're being led by the nose by an utter buffoon- or they'll just continue to pass the blame unto someone else as does he till the bitter end...

Speaking of which... the vast majority of people seem to think this is some freak one-off that will dissipate in due time; once again, they're not connecting the dots and realizing that this is what happens when you continue to give Mother Nature the big middle finger each and every damn day. Decades from now when climate change is in full swing this will be remembered as that quaint respite of a warning, back in the day when we could all relax at home with only one world wide catastrophe to deal with...