Shankbone » Culture

Monster Island Block Party 2010

David Shankbone — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 04:49:18 +0000

I went down to Williamsburg to check out the Monster Island Block Party, and these are the shots I took. All are licensed Creative Commons 3.0.

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Muslim Day Parade at same time as marriage equality march

David Shankbone — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 15:31:22 +0000

Oh, New York loves its parades, and it will be an interesting juxtaposition of marchers in the city on Sunday, September 26. That is the day of the 25th American Muslim Day Parade, but it is also the day of the 7th NYC Wedding March for marriage equality for gays. The Muslims will march down Madison Avenue in midtown at 1:00; the marriage marchers will begin from Foley Square, way downtown, at noon.

The right wing must be really confused about which one to protest. If only we had an immigrant march that day it would complete their villain trifecta.

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Cordoba House / Ground Zero mosque protest photos

David Shankbone — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:14:39 +0000

I dislike that opponents of the Cordoba House have won in branding it the ‘Ground Zero mosque’ – more evidence that it’s mostly non-New Yorkers, who generally prefer calling it the ‘World Trade Center’.

I ventured out to take some Creative Commons shots of the protesters and supporters of Cordoba House, but there were only a handful of supporters when I arrived at noon. If people are not against Cordoba House and think it’s fine, they aren’t particularly enthusiastic with support. That would explain the lackluster support turnout. I would say there were about 500-1000 people who showed up for the actual protest.

These images may be re-used and cropped – they are licensed Creative Commons 3.0. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

This was the small crowd of supporters of Cordoba House.

Below are shots of the protesters:

Click here to see more images of the protest at Flickr.

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Portraits of Power Couples

David Shankbone — Mon, 10 May 2010 14:22:12 +0000

Okay, the title of this post is a little hyperbolic, but some of these people are incredibly influential; they were, after all, on the red carpet for the 2010 Time 100.

Ashton Kutcher is one of my favorite celebrities. I’m not one of his Twitter followers, and I don’t rush to see what new thing he does (I just can’t keep up); but every time I hear about him or see his work, I like it. How can you not like someone who Sean “Diddy” Combs said this about on his Time 100 profile:

Most of us want to make as much money as we can, but Ashton, 32, is out to make the world a better place. He is smart — smart enough to leave Punk’d when he could still be making money at it. He has to have a heart in what he does. What he and Demi do with Twitter is a good example. Most people use it to promote themselves, but he uses Twitter to connect, to strike up conversations, to send positive messages to the millions of people who read his words. This guy will show us the future. And it’s gonna be a blast.

Here are some other couples portraits of those who were on the red carpet. All of these images are licensed Creative Commons 3.0:

No, Seth Meyers and Andy Samberg aren’t a “couple”, but they are both comedic powerhouses and I wanted to put this photo in some post. Samberg was a 2010 Time 100 contender.

The famous Palins, Todd and Sarah.

Karls Paul-Noel and “guest” (wife?) – I couldn’t find any other photograph of the two where she was identified. Paul-Noel was a Time 100. Rudy Guiliani wrote this about him: “Karls Paul-Noel, 53, is that kind of firefighter, and his compassion outranks even his bravery…. Less than 24 hours after the quake, Paul-Noel’s team was searching pancaked schools and houses, digging among smashed desks, cinder blocks and the bodies of the dead to find signs of life. His team found 11 survivors in Port-au-Prince, including four children.”

Leslie Mann and Judd Apatow. Mann is an actress who has appeared in many of her her husband Apatow’s films. Apatow was a 2008 Time 100 and a contender for the 2010 list.

Lisa Oz and Dr. Mehmet Oz. Dr. Oz, called “America’s Doctor”, was a contender for the 2010 Time 100.

Artist Jeff Koons and his wife Justine. Koons wrote Steve Jobs’s 2010 Time 100 profile.

David Lauren (Ralph Lauren’s son) and Lauren Bush (Neil Bush’s daughter, and the niece of GWB). They have been together for about five years.

Click here to see my Time 100 Creative Commons portraits at Flickr.

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Meet Joan Jett; she has something to show you

David Shankbone — Wed, 05 May 2010 23:36:21 +0000

Except for spotting weights as the work-out buddy of Cristiano Ronaldo (where he’d really open up while he lifted), I can’t think of a better way to spend a lunch hour than accompanying Joan Jett around Union Square as she approached strangers with PETA vegetarian starter kits.

The kits can be found in newsstands all around New York City.

Joan’s story can only be told in pictures, all licensed Creative Commons (with attribution):

Meet Joan. Joan’s a rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress. Kristen Stewart just played her in a highly-acclaimed movie about her life. No, she’s not 32, she’s 51, if you can believe that shit. Joan looks good. She has been a vegetarian for 20 years.

Joan has vegetarian beginner’s kits. She wants to give one to you.

To me?

Yes you, Hat. Joan asks, “Do you care about animals and your health?” Joan asks if he would like one of her kits. Hat gladly takes one and talks vegetarianism with Joan.

Now everyone is happy. Joan is happy. Hat is happy. But Joan does not yet see those women with strollers over her shoulder.

Excuse me miss, but do you like animals? Is that your blond baby? Is he a vegetarian? Let me tell you about the health benefits of vegetarianism for women.

Look at these beginner’s kits and don’t worry about the girl’s shirt behind you; it doesn’t mean that she eats cats. Did you know that the turkeys you buy at the grocery store can’t have sex?

Thank you Mrs. Joan, we will share these kits with our Mrs.

Hello Head of Hair, do you care about animals and your health?

Yes, yes I do care about animals and health. Let me take a look at one of those beginner kits you have there.

Thank you for caring about animals, Head of Hair, it was nice to meet you. But wait…

…who is caught in Joan’s eye?

Why it’s another person who cares about the tortured lives, environmental degradation and unnatural diets of factory farm animals.

Joan rocks. And so does PETA.

Click here to see more of these Creative Commons photos of Joan Jett at Flickr.

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Sarah Palin, Taylor Swift, Glenn Beck, Demi, Ashton and many more for Time 100 (photos)

David Shankbone — Wed, 05 May 2010 06:12:58 +0000

No matter where she goes, Sarah Palin overshadows an event. She certainly did last night on the red carpet at the Time 100 Gala, and she was amongst some pretty amazing people. I may not think much of her politics, but she sure as hell makes a good celebrity. The press couldn’t get enough of her!

I have so many photos from last night I am going to split them up in several posts. The people were pretty incredible; they deserve some individual words and multiple shot posts (including the one above with the First Dude). Until I get those up, here are some of the Big Names everyone knows.

All portraits are licensed Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 or 3.0 Generic.

Betty White

Taylor Swift

Glenn Beck

Martha Stewart

Demi Moore

Elie Wiesel

Ashton Kutcher

Suze Orman

Neil Patrick Harris

Donatella Versace

Andy Samberg

Seth Meyers

Richard Branson

Click here to see my Time 100 Creative Commons portraits at Flickr.

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International Pillow Fight Day 2010 New York (photos)

David Shankbone — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 04:33:31 +0000

I took my nephews to a massive pillow fight in New York City’s Union Square for International Pillow Fight Day. Roughly 150 cities were scheduled to participate in an event that is aligned with the so-called urban playground movement. Aside from the occasional crusty pillow and whiff of B.O., it was a blast (that’s me in the third shot). All images are licensed Creative Commons 3.0 (please link back here):

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Larry Kramer at home on Washington Square Park

David Shankbone — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:00:16 +0000

Last Sunday I met up with legendary writer Larry Kramer (who landed one of the toniest publishers for his magnum opus, The American People) and we did a few photographs, licensed Creative Commons 3.0:

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Norman Leboon is Ronald Reagan’s legacy

David Shankbone — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:34:19 +0000

So Eric Cantor is freaking out that a mentally-ill man, Norman Leboon, posted a YouTube video threatening him and his family. But Leboon is really not at the same level as the the Christian Militia terrorists, or even Joseph Stack, the anti-tax nut. His insanity was not focused.

See, Norman Leboon is megalomaniac and probably schizophrenic. In other words, he’s insane. Batshit insane, in the classic Apocalypse Now sense. It’s unfathomable that all of this occurred and yet the man was not committed to a hospital:

Leboon’s brother, Peter, said yesterday that his brother’s behavior had become so erratic in recent months that he also had notified the FBI after Norman Leboon posted one antigovernment YouTube rant.

“They dismissed it as no big deal,” Peter Leboon said.

Peter Leboon said he tried several times to have his brother committed to a mental institution, most recently before Christmas. [...]

Peter Leboon was concerned because his brother, who he said began showing signs of mental instability three years ago, had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

“The last time I tried to get him help, we searched the whole house, six or seven of us, we couldn’t find the gun,” Peter Leboon said. “I found the permit, though, and destroyed it. Whatever happened to that gun, who knows?”

Christina Wilson, 28, a neighbor, said FBI agents took Leboon away in shackles on Saturday.

That morning, Leboon was outside his house screaming at his neighbors.

“He was ranting and raving: He was going to blow everybody up on the block,” said Wilson, who lives two doors from Leboon.

“For the past two years, he’s been off his rocker,” Wilson said. “I’ve called the cops plenty of times.”

The police would take Leboon away, but never for more than a few hours, said James Hopkins, 39, brother of Leboon’s live-in partner, John Hopkins III.

“I’ve called the police for two years, and the City of Philadelphia has done nothing,” said James Hopkins, who lives across the street. [...]

According to Philadelphia court records, Leboon was arrested by police June 14 after he threatened to kill John Hopkins and slammed his face into a wall.

But at a July 28 hearing in Municipal Court, neither Leboon nor John Hopkins appeared, and Municipal Court Judge Frank T. Brady issued a warrant for Leboon’s arrest – a warrant that remains outstanding. [...]

“He’s made threats to Obama,” he said. “There’s threats to the pope. He threatens to stone him.”

The videos were made in Leboon’s kitchen on a desktop computer with a Web cam attached to the monitor, Hopkins said.

Wilson, who has three children, said parents would have to run out and grab their children when Leboon would come outside and start preaching that he was God.

Incredible! The real story, given all of the above, is how the Reagan era policies that led to the closure of federal mental health hospitals, and thus no place to put the mentally ill, have been a complete failure (they knew it back then, too).

The failure is still with us. Look at how many times Leboon, unstable and possibly carrying a gun, came into contact with authorities. Now what is likely to happen to him? He’ll be locked up in prison, which is the new mental health hospital. He clearly needs treatment, not prison, but that’s not the way we roll in the U.S.A.

Wonkette is right to make light of the way this poor, troubled soul expressed himself on YouTube because it shows how much Cantor overreacted in an effort to discredit real threats made against Democratic lawmakers.

The larger issue remains that our country has no functional way to deal with our mentally ill. It wasn’t just Eric Cantor that Leboon’s insanity focused on from his home in the Philadelphia suburb of Mayfair. As Wonkette sardonically wrote, “He threatened George W. Bush and Barack Obama and David Duke and Harry Reid and the talking pig-god Babe, and we did nothing.”

Here’s his threat to President Obama from November 2009:

So to all the Republican folks who jumped on this poor schizophrenic’s ramblings as damning evidence that violent extremism is on both sides of the political spectrum (read this gloating post at Gather.com), you might want to hold your pens. This guy is no more a liberal activist than he is the God of Enoch (which he claims he is).

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Obama Condoms in Union Square

David Shankbone — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:47:32 +0000

Not just Obama – this woman was also selling John McCain and Sarah Palin condoms in Union Square today. Yes it was her: the Obamacondoms.com lady. All images licensed Creative Commons 3.0 attribution.