I Love...

Hedgehogs! But never had I imagined them capable of such outright, blood curdling viciousness, nor their committed acquiescence to the unwritten but age honored rules of mortal combat.

To The Rescue!

Now, being a city boy and all, can't say I knew much about this. I would have obliviously walked on by like most other folk on their way through their local heath, and figure the sheep in question was downright lazy, pensive or just another fentanyl down and out. But now that I'm enlightened, I just can't wait to try it out and save, save, save as many as possible. It may require a slight relocation to uhh... greener pastures- but I'm determined to find, upright and save me a sheep!

And So It Goes...

2022 was both one of the most painful and productive years of my life. Three trips to the ER (two by ambulance)- and did I mention a month long bout with the dreaded varmints from hell... bedbugs? And yet, and yet, throughout it all, photographs seemed to sometimes fall into my very lap- and good thing too, since it was probably my one sole link to sanity throughout. All the while knowing that a drought could and would most likely drop at any time.

The beginning of every new year brings with it the anxiety of what you will create, how much you will create, and just how good it will be. Fortunately, I've learned to take it in stride more than previously, but the anxiety persists nonetheless. And the early winter months always promises fewer results, promoting that anxiety further still until things warm up, people come out, and photo ops are more abundant come spring.

But you try and collect whatever you can (while one still can), usually not Pulitzers, but keepers nonetheless...

All Photos:  © S. Banos

All Photos: © S. Banos

The Way It Works!

 

 

And he's basically... correct- Happy Presidents' Day!

Unfortunately, it's pretty damn difficult fighting the anonymous powers that be, people we can't see, let alone meet or confront directly, which is why we're so often left with confronting their petty political foot soldiers... And while many may consider it a fool's errand (and I can't give an impassioned argument otherwise), there is, in fact the question of nuance within those two sides of the same coin, eg- had it been Gore rather than Bush we could have avoided entirely unnecessary (decades long) wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that were every bit as based on lies and greed as the current war in Ukraine; and er, uhh- Trump...

Crazy As A... FOX!

Back in the day, when shame and common sense were still... a thing, these guys would have rapidly imploded and ceased to exist quicker than Rosie Ruiz! But now, lying liars and the tales they tell have become a de rigueur badge of honor. Remember when the Bush admin declared, "...we create our own reality?" Well, the Donald kinda took that to heart, and instead of calling him out on his mind bending, reality makeovers- true believers just... believed, reality be damned! But when George Santos sashayed it in their face, some actually cried most foul- alas, the train had already left the station...

Blind

Kinda enjoyed this Claymation type production. Humorous, visually appealing and open to interpretation...

ICBM A No-Go!

If I told you that UFO's (UAP's) have turned our nation's land based nuclear missiles on and off at will, I'd no doubt receive more than my share of eye rolls- and justifiably so. But when the officer in charge relates the story as he and his men experienced it, well... one should really sit up and listen!

More here...

History In Review

One of the great things about history is that if you study it long enough, it can sometimes teach you things on a much more personal level...

Tighten Up!

Ages since I've heard this, and the video is pretty surreal- looks like a bunch of White boys in their late Sixties, flower power, psychedelia dress threads booked the same studio time as Archie Bell, who rather than argue, had an idea, went outside and grabbed three guys off the sidewalk that afternoon for a (really) quick dance rehearsal and an evening taping fit for R&R, R&B history!

You Can Call Biden Senile

... all you want. He most certainly has his moments, and then some... But his State of the Union address last night finally elucidated, clearly and succinctly, why even the wishy-washy Dems are still miles ahead of the clown train GOP: cheaper meds and health care, social security, gun control, infrastructure, the workers right to unionize, police reform, taxing the rich... Most working class Americans support that; and last night, POTUS did a pretty admirable job reminding everyone exactly what side at least tries to legislate for the above. It's a pretty admirable list of which they've had some fairly demonstrable wins of late, and yet somehow always fail to mention- unlike their Republican counterparts who repeatedly tout their imaginary accomplishments and baseless accusations on cue and on script ad naseum...

So make fun of Ol' Man Joe all ya want- I know I do! And then listen to this guy, you know, the guy who bragged that he aced a "Genius Test," when in reality his own handlers were too embarrassed (and afraid) to tell boss man that it was really little more than... a test for dementia!

The fun starts at 0:54 with what I think is an attempt at haiku- "I call it a dog, a beautiful dog, a talented dog," before he then starts riffing with a Knock-Knock joke. Yeah, priceless...

Or as one reporter once said about Herr Trump, "What does he mean when he says words?"

Really, Seriously?!?

We needed a radar evading, stealth, fifth generation jet fighter armed with a Sidewinder air to air missile to take down... a balloon, a balloon?!?

If ya really wanted to humiliate China, ya send up a biplane with a propeller and machine gun and rat-tat-tat the fucker down King Kong style. And even that's overkill- hell, meet it on its own terms... send up the Good Year blimp and have the copilot ride shotgun! That's the kind of embarrassment that'll deflate any thought of future balloon incursion!

That's Gratitude For Ya!

You'd think that after fixing up the rotting pier where it now stands to the tune of millions in order to show the public world class art (photography) exhibits for absolutely free (exhibits that would go for double figures these days)- yeah, you'd think that would count for... something! So the good people in charge right here in San Francisco decided to show their appreciation by throwing Pier 24 Photography out- lock, stock and barrel...

Funny Sick, Or Funny Ha-Ha?

Always amusing how those who attack "feelings," are the same who live by them (as opposed to say... Facts).

Great speech, that ignores the fact that many people are desperately working to bring about change, and being completely ignored, by: the fossil fuel industries, by Conservative, Right Wing politicians (who deny climate change even exists, and if it does, is not man made) and governments by and large, rich and poor. Every few years, these world governments get together, solemnly pledge great things they will accomplish in a few short years, and then proceed to do absolutely... NOTHING.

Meanwhile, Big Oil continues to get subsidized, innovative, clean alternatives continue to get underfunded, and plans for even more climate conventions are made, driving people to the point of near madness where they desperately end up throwing soup on paintings as their elders hasten to mindlessly poison their very future. The ice caps are melting, the permafrost is melting, and glaciers are disappearing wholesale while giant sink holes are appearing in Siberia releasing unprecedented levels of lethal methane. Island nations are disappearing into the Pacific, and storms are more devastating than ever as tornados appear where they never have before; droughts are longer and more severe worldwide, desertification is increasing, and the last ten years are the hottest on record...

Yeah, great speech (uh-huh)- and about as funny as a Republican with a snowball on the Senate floor.

Remembering 2 Minor Icons

A quick search of The Guardian last Sunday revealed the passing of a sublime guitar hero, and the examination of a noted photographer and documentarian who went to his grave with a very sobering secret...

I still remember the utter thrill upon first listening to Tom Verlaine's album Marquee Moon and being transported to rock & roll guitar heaven! The album was transcendent, a proto-punk who could actually play, a guitar virtuoso who delivered the goods tenfold, and still kept you wanting for more...

Meanwhile, Ernest Withers compiled an enormous body of work of a time and community that he alone was positioned to have such access- while at the same time compromising that very legacy with every shot he took, every life he documented, every secret he exposed...

Proof!!!

 Of what, don't exactly know... but it's all the proof I need!!!

The Mars Barrr (NASA/JPL/Univ. of Arizona via SWNS)

Still don't believe?!?

What Happens When...

one group chooses to punish and humiliate another group as (Republican) investigators chose to when 'investigating' the... investigators?!? They are handed very credible evidence of very possible wrong doing by their own people and leader(s)- which they very quickly proceed to bury post haste!!!

(In)Justice

Photo: © Stan Banos

I remember when they crucified Anita Hill in the '90s for the sake of the pubic hair fabulist (and Supreme Court Justice to be named) Clarence Thomas, he who decried Affirmative Action, only to employ his own very personalized version to outwit and defeat his critics in a basically All White Congressional 'jury,' by ever so sanctimoniously declaring himself the victim of a "high tech lynching." Giving credit where credit due, it was the most effective and sickening display of playing the "race card" by someone who professed to be so adamantly against the slightest hint of it. And the very same White Congressmen who most profoundly condemn said "race card" whenever allegedly used in society at large, cheered wildly as he unashamedly owned and abused it to his, and their advantage.

We were again treated to the same basic storyline in 2018 when human beer mold Brett Kavanaugh was accused of rape by yet another totally believable and truthful female witness, one Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Mr. Kavanaugh lashed out against those who doubted his denial of the accusations with some rather vehement verbal attacks and histrionics that at times bordered on the unhinged.

But this time- there would be an FBI investigation! I remember watching a former FBI agent on a cable news channel describing what such an investigation would entail. He assured viewers that such investigations were thorough beyond imagining, where no stone would remain unturned. Every friend and acquaintance of either party would be meticulously investigated, witness reports corroborated, and agents would personally drive Ms. Blasey around until the house in question where the alleged rape occurred would finally be located and confirmed! Have no doubt, all would be revealed...

Of course, none of the above happened. With Trump at the helm, it was a most deliberate and guaranteed whitewash specifically designed to get his man in. And once again, yet another absolute shit of a human being who openly mocked and degraded any semblance of law and justice was gleefully seated on our nation's highest court. 

Now comes a documentary called Justice, a film that exposes key bits and pieces of viable (and incriminating) information that were purposely ignored, not pursued and intentionally left out of the official 'investigation.' And one can only hope that the film throws open this case anew and ultimately leads to something akin to its title...

For Your (Remote) Consideration...

 

Hey, even if you're not buying any of it, ya gotta admit- you can't possibly have a cooler name than 

Ingo Swann. And then, there's this...

Would Have LOVED To Photograph This!!!

Cause I'm just a tumbleweed lovin' kinda guy! They've captured my imagination since I was a kid; aimlessly stumblin' and a bumblin' through the bleak Western landscape, always just the slightest bit leery that they would somehow transform into some malevolent mass, self awareness. And seeing them overtaking suburbia somehow adds yet another level of creepy surrealism...

W/O Comment...

Facts, Documents And...

Well... the slam dunk on indicting/convicting Trump on classified documents just turned into a Hail Mary from halfcourt!

Yeah, I know, I know- apples and Appalachia; but facts no longer matter in the court of public opinion, and if you think that really doesn't matter- Puh-lease! Plus, they found the documents (in Biden's possession) in November, before election...

What was a 'sure thing,' easy-peasy Trump conviction on obstruction may now have to be discarded because it's hard to talk obstruction without first talking unlawful possession of classified documents- which they are both Guilty of! We had a plethora of criminal charges to convict the bastard: the sure bet is now arguably shot to shit, the insurrection charge is as real, as it is shaky- so full steam ahead with the voter fraud charges...

"Fellas... Give me a break!"