The Trump Coward Family

No matter how much money I've inherited and made on the backs of others- I'm still a little shit... And look- I can prove it!!!

I have nothing against hunters who actually eat what they kill- I'd be some kinda hypocrite otherwise, since I eat meat. As far as these Big Bawanas who wanna prove how big theirs are by shooting defenseless animals for... sport are concerned- if you want to prove your manhood with a gun, there's many a government sanctioned organization that will happily send you off where you can "be all that you can be." But these Trumps, Nugents and lying dentists are just cowards to the core.

Detroit Unbroken Down- Dave Jordano

Photo: Dave Jordano

The first thing one notices upon viewing this book is that it is unquestionably a labor of love. Mr. Jordano loves Detroit, and loves its people- as do they, despite all its faults, disappointments and dangers. One hears and sees little else but the latter anywhere anyone looks. Detroit Unbroken Down reminds us all that there are real people living there, beyond the ruin porn, gangstas and chosen downtown elite. Ordinary people desperately trying to live decent lives in a man made island of neglect and disrepair within the world's most powerful nation.

Photo: Dave Jordano

These portraits of people and community do not focus on the down and out, but neither are they feel good rainbows and unicorns. These Motor City denizens live a reality from which so many of its former residents fled unapologetically; yet, there they remain, refusing to give up and succumb, if only because they don't have the luxury of fleeing. If nothing else, these photographs remind us of that.

Photo: Dave Jordano

Photo: Dave Jordano

Losing One's Voice

Don't know if the movie was all that great, but the content sure was, and her talent was as real and rare as it ever gets. I didn't know Amy Winehouse from shit while alive, by the time I found out who she was, she had already become the mumbling, fumbling, public butt of jokes; and that is, I must confess, how I happened upon her. A joke, a sham, a vapid publicity stunt gone terribly wrong.

Truth is, she was an exceptionally rare talent with a gift that comes along only once in several generations. Most recording artists artists in general must strain to get every last ounce of whatever talent they possess to make themselves shine and be counted. Amy's voice was an absolute force of nature, she had to corral and tame its sheer brilliance. And she could do so with surprising ease and regularity. I have to go back to a young Aretha to think of someone who actually had to restrain their voice of its own natural intensity, a voice that could just wail seemingly of its own accord and volition. She didn't have the Biblical soul of Aretha, but the subtle intonations she delivered were nothing short of magical- so unlike the squeeze every note into every syllable histrionics of the Mariah Carey School of Yarbling.

Unfortunately, she could not curtail and control the very demons that lived within that voice. And she very rapidly regressed into the same sad story of an enormous talent imploding under the pressure of drugs, stardom and wanton self destruction. 

Ironically, and unlike so many others- she wanted neither the fame nor celebrity, and knew it would be the death of her...

Elizabeth The Great

Elizabeth Warren Embarrasses GOP Financial Exec

Liz, Liz- I think I'm in love. If only you were in that big white house!

 - Alas, you'd be dead within months...

The Black And White Of It

After seeing this photo of a Black officer aiding a White supremacist on Yahoo "News," had to see the sorry ass excuses and explanations that racists would be falling over themselves to make in the commentary. And certainly wasn't disappointed, the very first I read accused him of being a... Nationalist Socialist! Get it? No, that's not a Nazi Aryan White Supremacist- he's a Socialist- a Communist, like Lenin, Stalin... Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders!!!

You-can't-make-this-shit-up...

My First Restoration...

Photo: © S. Banos

30 man hours in, and about 350 more (65MG files) to go... Fifteen years ago I made a decent work print of this and had I two or three more sheets of paper left, might have been able to nail it. Ten years ago, I rented a darkroom to renew the challenge and didn't even make a decent test exposure- two sheets into it, I stood there, had a good laugh, and walked outta the darkroom never to return. I still remember how much lighter my shoulders felt when I walked out!

The weight is most definitely back now with the need for restoration. This negative was definitely not the easiest, nor the hardest- but it did at least confirm that, as hoped, I will be able to see most of these through, even with my limited skills- not that it's easy. I tried both a recommended software, and restoration technique- and both failed spectacularly. Other restoration techniques (specifically, those that erase the damage in bulk rather than individually) are simply ineffective or beyond my reach, at least for now; so my number one restorative tool is, quite simply- patience. I've put about 100 of the files I'd like to see the most in a separate folder; when those get done, I'll breathe a small sigh of relief...

"I Was Appointed To Be Duped."

The Hoffman Report- How the APA, the CIA and the US Military colluded to excuse, allow and practice torture...

6/20/15

Photo: © S. Banos

While in NY recently, most of my time was devoted to family matters, but I did manage to steal a little time for myself and make it to Coney, to which I haven't been in years, just in time to catch The Mermaid Parade. Back in the early '80s when it first launched, it was a rag tag, if sincere, affair lasting all of 20 minutes. Now it is a commercially sponsored enterprise which was still going strong some three hours after it commenced and I attempted to leave. And attempted is the operating word since the police had completely cordoned everything off; you literally could not cross the street anywhere to get to the subway- not anywhere! Had to wait something like an hour packed like the proverbial sardine until the cops felt like letting us cross the street.

I didn't mind the occasional rain, and I usually don't mind the effort- if I at least get the one (photo); but I don't think I ever want to go through that again. I don't mind not being privy to whatever's behind some cooler than thou velvet rope, but I can't tolerate having my movement restricted indefinitely on a public street- that's my parade.

SOB Robs Wounded Vets

This SOB bastard started a totally needless war based on the lies he had manufactured to sell it, had thousands of our boys killed and maimed for life so that his Dick friend could make millions, performed a "comedy skit" about not being able to find any WMD, and is still not satisfied until he can reach into their pockets and make a few bucks off what's left of their bodies.

The man knows NO shame...

Donald Trump- Man Of Conviction!

96- Per Day...