BLOOD IN THE STREETS

-marty liboff-

Blood, blood, blood

running down the street

body pieces heads, arms, feet.

Wars everywhere

the stench of death in the air.

Satan laughs with glee

can’t anyone see?

Our world is in a mess

what will be is anyone’s guess?

When the 4 Horsemen ride

there will be nowhere to hide.

In wars we all die

men, women and children cry.

Death, death, death

so many their last breath.

Bombs falling on your head

so many hurt and dead.

We’re falling into the pits of Hell

dead bodies rot and smell.

Hate, hate, hate

is it too late?

Children taught hate and lies

you teach hate and everyone dies.

Anger, revenge, madness

it will only end in sadness.

When war mongers rant & rave

we’ll all be buried in our grave.

Propaganda and lies

and everyone dies.

A military industrial complex pit

wasting our wealth on shit.

Tribalism, nationalism, racism

capitalism, socialism, communism

too many isms and schisms

leads to a cataclysm.

Muslims hate Christians

Catholics hate Lutherans

Buddhists hate Hindus

and everyone hates Jews.

War, war, war

what is it for?

The terrors and demons of war

hate, greed, jealousy, settle a score.

Ancient hatreds from the past

keep us from a peace that will last.

We are in for dark times ahead

H bombs, diseases and billions dead.

The stench of death in the air

nobody seems to care.

We live in our delusions

lost in illusions

creating our confusions

making wars and revolutions.

The beast nature in humanity

drives us into a blood lust insanity.

The Bible says thou shalt not kill

but to some it is a big thrill.

Their greatest fun

is shooting a gun.

Wars only bring death and pain

blood running down like rain.

We fight over an inch of dirt

babies raped, die and hurt.

Our universe and souls are infinite

yet we believe an inch of land is it.

We blame this one and that

breeds hate and not where it’s at.

Try to see all sides

somewhere there the truth abides.

Understand what others see & hear

what they dream and fear.

Be aware, brave & bold

break free of what you’ve been taught & told.

The basis of all religions is Love

a great Spirit inside us and above.

Roses are not all the same

different color, shape and name.

But we see

they each have their own beauty.

There is beauty in all of us

so why all the stupid fuss?

We are all one family tree

together in one big family.

Wars are fought in our heart

try peace and love for a start.

Try compassion today

and Love, Love, Love is the Way…

SAY CHEESE!

by Marty Liboff

Everyone today has a cell phone with a nice camera. Even tiny kids today in strollers have a phone and camera. Back when Abbot Kinney began his Venice of America in 1905 very few people had cameras. It was the age of the penny postcard and penny stamp and many shops at our beach sold postcards. In 1888 George Eastman’s Kodak box camera went into production. It was preloaded and you had to send it back to the factory to get your photos developed. In the early 1900s Kodak came out with their hand held Brownie and affordable photography began to get popular. However this hobby was only in it’s beginnings in 1905 when Venice opened. Instead many people went to a few photo studios along the Ocean Front Walk. They could take your photo in their inside studio and make postcards of your photo so you could send them to aunt Blanche back in New Jersey. Most of these photo studios had a beach scene back drop and some props you could use to pretend you were on the beach by Venice Pier, Ocean Park Pier or Santa Monica Pier.

The old tintypes photography was still popular at carnivals and fairs and there were a couple people around our beaches still doing them for tourists. The camera used a thin piece of metal with an emulsion on top which included cyanide! They were sturdy and a print could be made in a few minutes. Many famous photos from the Civil War era were either tintypes or the similar Daguerrotypes. There were even little photo booths around that took your picture automatically when you dropped a dime in. However the film cameras like Kodak’s began taking over most of the photography by 1905 and on.

Rile’s Photography Studio was on Santa Monica beach in 1887. It had a studio and a gallery with photos of the beach for sale. He had props and costumes for you to dress up with and take a photo. There were photo studios next to the Santa Monica Pier and the Ocean Park Pier even before Venice opened. There were the Thomas Hanna, Sherman and W.H. Lynch photo studios. Later other studios opened. When Venice opened in 1905 a couple more studios opened near the Venice pier. One was called Venice Novelty Fotos and another Sewards’ Post Cards. A couple of these studios also shot photos for postcards but most of the mass market postcards were printed at print shops some even in Germany. The photo studios also began developing your film as cheap box cameras became more common. Later some also began selling cameras and supplies as the times changed.

At least one burned down in the Venice Pier fire in 1920 and another in the Ocean Park Pier fire in 1924. Both piers were almost completely gutted in these fires. Both piers were quickly rebuilt but some of the heart and soul of Venice of America was gone when Kinney died in 1920 just six weeks before his wonderful pier burned down.

Besides the photo studios there were many well known photographers living nearby who shot photos of our neighborhood. Even the famous Ansel Adams came here and took photos of the beach and piers. Some of our local photographers were Adelbert Bartlett, Emerson Gage, Bill Beebe, Ken Strickfaden, Victor Barnaba, and George Tate.

By the late 1920s and into the 1930s there were plenty of cheap box cameras with roll film. However the Great Depression put a hold on many people taking photos since film and developing cost money and many people couldn’t even afford food or rent. This also affected business at the piers and the photo studios. Some closed but at least one in Ocean Park continued as a family run business for several more years. By the 1940s cheap box cameras and the more expensive Leica cameras that came out in 1925 were very common. After WWII almost everyone bought a cheap camera to take pictures of their baby or dog. The need for the beach photo studios was over. Here are a few fun examples of studio postcards from around 1906 to 1912. SMILE!