Happy Nostalgic Thanksgiving!

Note: Here's a post from 18 years ago. This is before all my operations and various disorders when I enjoyed the fine health of early middle-age. No complaints. Glad to be around.

clipartpanda.com

So back in the day, I wrote . . . 

This morning I met some chums from Team in Training. We ran a 5K (3.1 mile) race in La Cañada, a northern LA suburb. I'd driven through there several times. The little hills sloped gradually, so it appeared. I predicted EZ running.

Oh, they were sly, unpleasant hills. Steeper than they looked. Finish-time eaters. If it were possible, I'd cuff them sharply.

This was very much a neighborhood race: families, parents with strollers, teenage girls running five across, and people running with leashed dogs — which I don't get. Walk the dog or run the race. 

Later, Ronald MacDonald — clown, spokesman, bon vivant — led youngsters in a warm up prior to a children's race. After that, a child warmed up Ronald MacDonald prior to a fast food spokesman's race. 

In any event, Happy Thanksgiving!

Rare African Fire Giraffes

 Tall, Graceful, and Full-of Flame

What if you could be all those things? How different would your life be?

Jest Videos

Hollywood Squashes Wall-E

A Robot Learns There's No Business Like Show Business 

Tinsel Town can be oh-so cruel. Watch the rise and fall of a robot star.

Jest Video

Unsubtle H.P. Lovecraft Video and Book Promo

 

The Father of Cosmic Horror and a Lessor Acolyte

A gauche plug for my writing wrapped in the mantle of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. 

Jest Videos

Cracked Magazine Article on the Rise and Fall of Freakazoid

I should know. I WAS THERE!!!

Thanks to Brian Van Hooker for the terrific article on one of my very favorite TV animation shows ever. Tom Ruegger, Paul Rugg and I are interviewed regarding our recollection of those ancient times. 

Go forth and read at Cracked. 

Making TV Animation Back in the Day

 Astounding and Anti-Informative

A short fun clip from a longer video The Making of Freakazoid, made back in the mists of time. 1996, perhaps.

John P. McCann Channel

'Nam Killed Kurt Over Time v.4

 

Photo: Life Magazine. Kurt's unit patrolled these hills. (Mutter's Ridge and the Rock Pile.) 

Some veterans die in battle while others return home to perish on the installment plan. My friend Kurt passed away in 2003 from liver cancer. He went quick, maybe a hundred days. The cancer was partially brought about by PTSD-inspired drinking coupled with hepatitis from a bad blood transfusion he underwent in Vietnam. Kurt could have skated on that particular war, but extended his enlistment in order to fight. Serving in Marine Recon, he won a Navy Commendation medal for helping his unit battle clear of an ambush.

Several Purple Hearts later, Kurt joined an ultra-secret outfit that probed the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. Hacked out of the jungle, the Trail was a highway for the North Vietnamese to funnel men and supplies into South Vietnam and Cambodia. Because of our odd political posturing, Laos was officially off-limits to U.S. ground forces. That meant Kurt and his unofficial comrades were forced to ditch the bodies of their dead. The fallen would be listed as "Missing in Action in South Vietnam." It always bothered Kurt that families would be denied the closure of burial—or the recognition of bravery from a schizophrenic government.

A good portion of Kurt's post-war years were spent in alcohol and drug-fueled rage and self-destruction. In time, he made peace with his past. Little by-little, Kurt cut a trail over to serenity from which he rarely strayed. Despite a Master's Degree in electronics, he took a job driving a truck and fixing vending machines. (Kurt worked well unsupervised.) Getting married, buying a home, his last ten years were good ones.

I was a pallbearer at Kurt's funeral. He received a Marine Corps color guard, taps, and a view of the 2 Freeway stretching below in the distance, flowing past Forest Lawn Cemetery on its way to Eagle Rock. (Transportation played a big role in his life.) I recall Kurt when I drive past and often wish he could call down artillery on erratic drivers.

This Veteran's Day Kurt came to mind. And while he's at peace, I send prayers and best wishes to those still struggling with the silent baggage of war.

Happy Veteran's Day to all who served. You are remembered.

(This is a 2014 repost from Veteran's Day 2010 reposted once more in 2021, and now reposted in 2023.)

Happy Birthday to the U.S. Marine Corps

 

Here's a short article commemorating the Marine Corps on their 235th birthday. Best wishes to all Leathernecks past and present. (Photo: Acclaim Images)    

Note: A decade has passed since the above post, hence 245th birthday would be more appropriate. 

Note: Three years have passed since the above note, hence 228th birthday will do nicely.

Ten Free Text-to-Image Websites

 

LimeWire

With all my ai experimentation, I thought I'd ask my bud, ChatGPT, to list a starter set of ten free text-to-image sites. If you're paranoid like me, each site states whether or not it requires a Google sign-in. Alas, this is list is only current up to Jan. 2022 and there's more ai sites arriving each week. (That's why it's not a Top Ten.) But if you're a novice, just screwing around, it'll be fine. I'll list two current sites below that even a lame prompter like me can easily access.

 

 

1. **OpenAI DALL-E**: - **Benefits**: DALL-E is a groundbreaking AI model capable of generating images from textual descriptions. It does not require a Google account to use. 

 2. **Runway ML**: - **Benefits**: Runway ML offers a user-friendly interface for artists and designers to create images from text. You can use it without a Google account. 

 3. **Deep Dream Generator**: - **Benefits**: Deep Dream Generator allows users to transform their text descriptions into visually stunning and surreal images. It typically doesn't require a Google account. 

 4. **Artbreeder**: - **Benefits**: Artbreeder enables users to manipulate and generate images based on text inputs. While you can access some features without an account, certain features may require a Google account for full access.

 

 5. **AI Painter**: - **Benefits**: AI Painter provides a simple way to turn text into art by generating paintings based on textual descriptions. It typically doesn't require a Google account. 

 6. **Runway ML StyleGAN**: - **Benefits**: Runway ML's StyleGAN integration allows users to create images from text and apply specific artistic styles. It does not require a Google account. 

 7. **DeepAI Text to Image API**: - **Benefits**: DeepAI's API enables developers to integrate text-to-image functionality into their applications. You may not need a Google account to use this API, but it's advisable to check their current policies. 

 8. **PaintsChainer**: - **Benefits**: PaintsChainer uses AI to transform text descriptions into colored sketches. It typically doesn't require a Google account. 

 9. **Runway ML BigGAN**: - **Benefits**: Runway ML's BigGAN model can generate high-resolution images from text inputs. It does not require a Google account. 

 10. **DeepArt.io**: - **Benefits**: DeepArt.io leverages AI to create art based on textual descriptions. It typically doesn't require a Google account. 

 Please note that the account requirements may change over time, so it's a good practice to check the specific websites' current policies and registration procedures before using them.

**BlueWillow - Click on Blue Willow and you'll be taken to Discord and then to LimeWire. But after that, it's a breeze to use. I designed the artwork above in no time.

**Ideogram - Open and create. This is the simplest text-to-image ai site I've yet to discover. 

Do NOT Befriend the Giraffe

More ai text-to-image fun. This time I designed art for a YouTube thumbnail. The thumbnail will herald an old video I found of a wild animal park up in Sonoma, California. Reasons exist not to grow too chummy with our long-necked friends. More shall be explained after I launch the vid.
 

Booze Ape On-the-House

Booze Ape 2023

Drunk as a Monkey

Having fun once again with AI text-to-image and decided to see how the dreamlike.art algorithms would handle my request for a chimp in a seedy tavern. Not exactly Charles Bukowski, but I think the Dirty Old Man would approve.