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Benj

@benjel.bsky.social

Florida man in Baku. Travels and sails. Student for life and teaches social science. Reads about business and history. Enjoys comics and death metal.
🗣️🇺🇸🇫🇷🇷🇺
More of a cat person.

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Benj

@benjel.bsky.social

Hello, Doha! Swanky hotel? Oh, yes. 🇶🇦 #indoors #travel #photograph #qatar

The image shows an intricate and striking architectural design feature within a hotel. The main focus is a large, angular glass and metal structure that extends upwards, forming an impressive overhead canopy or atrium. The design incorporates a series of intersecting triangular and diamond-shaped panels, creating a dynamic and geometric visual effect. Some of the panels are made of clear glass, allowing natural light to filter through, while others have a metallic, mirrored finish that reflects the surrounding environment. The overall impression is one of modern, sophisticated design that is both aesthetically pleasing and functionally integrated into the building's architecture.

January 24, 2025 at 8:02 AM

Benj

@benjel.bsky.social

At Heydar Aliyev Airport. Leaving Baku again for a week on work. Destination: Doha, Qatar.

The image shows a large, dimly lit airport terminal with a high, curved glass ceiling. The terminal is empty, with rows of black leather chairs arranged in the center of the space. The windows on the walls are tall and narrow, and the artificial lighting creates a moody, almost theatrical atmosphere. The overall impression is of a modern, minimalist design with a focus on functionality and efficiency.

January 23, 2025 at 5:22 PM

Benj

@benjel.bsky.social

Watching "Big Trouble in Little China."

Anyone else consider growing a mullet to channel their inner Kurt Russel?

Asking for a friend.

January 19, 2025 at 4:25 PM

Benj

@benjel.bsky.social

Soviet mural in downtown Baku, #Azerbaijan. The mural commemorates "The Great Patriotic War," a different take on World War II.

A Soviet-era mural on a building wall in Baku, painted in white and beige geometric shapes, depicting stylized figures with upraised hands and a cross symbol, commemorating World War II. The mural is set against a cream-colored building with classical architectural details.

January 18, 2025 at 1:43 PM

Benj

@benjel.bsky.social

After-school and overcast in Baku. #azerbaijan #school #football #cityscape

A soccer field with artificial turf and white goal posts at a school in Baku, Azerbaijan. The urban skyline stretches across the background, featuring numerous cream-colored high-rise apartment buildings against a moody winter sky with scattered white clouds. A few people play soccer on the field while evergreen trees line the perimeter. The late afternoon light casts a warm glow on the buildings, contrasting with the cool, overcast atmosphere.

January 14, 2025 at 3:22 PM

Benj

@benjel.bsky.social

I greatly appreciated the street art in Tbilisi, Georgia. Lamb's work could be found throughout the city back in 2017.
#travel #georgia #streetart

January 13, 2025 at 4:19 PM

Benj

@benjel.bsky.social

A friend was looking for a deal on an Azerbaijani carpet. I tell her, every carpet seller I've met is happy to cut a deal. Everyone gets a "friend price."

That song and dance is all part of the game. I admire the dishonesty built into the tradition.

January 12, 2025 at 6:34 PM

Benj

@benjel.bsky.social

Beyond it being Iggy Pop, I picked up "Brick by Brick" on the Charles Burn cover alone. Icing on the cake: it also features Slash and Duff of Guns n' Roses and Kate Pierson of The B-52's. 🤩

January 12, 2025 at 3:07 PM

Benj

@benjel.bsky.social

The photographer wanted to make .gifs, but couldn't wait 70 years for their invention.

The Public Domain Review @publicdomainrev.bsky.social · Jan 10

New year's resolution to do more exercise? A business man? Then this 1917 book, Physical Training for Business Men, may be the perfect January read. (And for everyone else, you can just look at the spellbinding photos). More here: buff.ly/3pJoD46

January 10, 2025 at 5:25 PM

Benj

@benjel.bsky.social

More quaint warnings from the the 1990s #punk and #hardcore scene.

I found this one in Reversal of Man's (1998) "Revolution Summer."

The entire insert booklet for this 10" is a work of art. It uses the old zine methods of copy editing.

January 10, 2025 at 5:06 PM

Benj

@benjel.bsky.social

Tucked inside Catharsis's double-LP "Samsara" (1998), I found this insert promoting an indie publisher.

Feels so quaint these days. #hardcore #music #indie #punk

"WHEN CORPORATIONS RULE THE PLANET, YOU'LL MISS THE SMALL PRESS"

"We're living at a time in history when multinational corporations have become the largest single force in determining the way we live our lives. Not only do they control nearly all areas of commerce & consumption, they also control the flow of information and ideas. Fewer than 10 corporations control most of the global media and it's getting worse with every corporate merger. As these institutions become larger and larger, they control more and more of our lives. They decide what is "newsworthy"... they decide which books get published... they decide which opinions will be voiced. These points of view inevitably support the agendas of those that control these empires. Advertisers manufacture our desires while "news" editors manufacture our consent by regulating the flow of information... information about the health effects of chemicals in our food, the effects of our consumption on the biosphere, and the real cost of the products we buy (in terms of human misery & ecological destruction). These corporations are subsidized by our tax dollars through an elaborate system of corporate welfare. They exist to make a profit for their shareholders. This is their prime directive and it is becoming increasingly evident that they will steamroll anyone or anything in their path in order to meet this objective.

These corporations won't be publishing books on grassroots resistance to U.S. imperialism & war, or be making movies about labor struggles. They won't be reporting on the devastating ecological effects of urban sprawl and a culture based on fossil fuel dependency. This is why the independent press, now more than ever before, is essential to the well-being of a vibrant and original culture of resistance. Indeed it is vital to our very freedom, quality of life and right to honest information. Alternative media (and all small businesses) all over the world are in danger of extinction. Your support is essent…

"TREE OF KNOWLEDGE PRESS"

"Tree of Knowledge is a mailorder distribution & publishing collective struggling to provide the finest in alternative media at affordable prices. We have more than 150 zines, books, and pamphlets focusing on health & social issues, activism, DIY, anarchism, ecology, alternative living, punk/hardcore, youth culture, feminism, veganism, & other forms of intelligent rebellion. We've got zines such as Auto-Free Times, Fucktooth, Contrascience, Icarus Was Right, Inside Front, The Match!, Flavorpak, War Crime, Here Be Dragons, Cooties, Retrogression, Screams From Inside, Dishwasher, Temp Slave, Outpunk, Dwgsht, Femme Flicke, Cometbus, Doris, The Underground Auto Worker, Dwelling Portably, War Crime, Live Wild or Die, Slug & Lettuce, Backseat, & Enobled Mind... plus a good selection of comics (including the entire Migraine Press catalog). We've got books by Emma Goldman, Noam Chomsky, Judi Bari, Graham Purchase, Ward Churchill, Grace Llewellyn, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Raoul Vaneigem, and many other articulate folks. We publish stuff when we can... stuff like The Playground Messiah, a graphic novel by Emily Heiple & Nate Powell about some teenage revolutionaries who inspire an uprising in their high school, or Spectacle Magazine, a journal of ecology, activism, humor, & alternatives & resistance to corporate dominance & destruction of the planet. Our 1999 mailorder catalog is out and is yours for just $1.00 (or some stamps) from the address below. Thanks a lot!"

January 9, 2025 at 4:33 PM

Benj

@benjel.bsky.social

Teaching a lesson today, we had an assessment, yet no one-liner defining the objectives. I improvised. I wrote on the board, "Lesson Objective: To develop tools to prepare for an uncertain future."

I left it on the board all day.

I think we'll revisit it regularly.

January 8, 2025 at 6:15 PM

Reposted by Benj

Stephen R Bissette

@stephenrbissette.bsky.social

Every day above dirt is a good day!
__

©2017, 2025 Stephen R Bissette

January 7, 2025 at 10:57 PM

Benj

@benjel.bsky.social

As I approached my front door, I heard the Mars Volta coming from inside the apartment. I then walked into a cosmic light show. #unexpected #psychedelic

January 7, 2025 at 5:19 PM

Benj

@benjel.bsky.social

After completing the shorebased course last month, I received my RYA Coastal Skipper & Yachmaster Offshore certificate today. Looking forward to applying those skills this spring. ⛵ #accomplishment