Category: Uncategorized

Guess what, while MAGA will gorge on lemonade and brownies, the rest of the world will not. Build a coalition before you need them, not while you’re up a creek without a paddle.

So if Trump pissed into a glass and shit on a plate and then handed it to MAGA, would MAGA respond by saying “Sir, this is the best tasting lemonade and brownie that I have ever eaten”? Just wondering.

A few months ago, nincompoop claimed he had settled another war, this time between Thais and Cambodian forces on their mutual border. This was done in the name of world peace. Well, that peace did not last very long with bombs exploding and guns shooting along that border this week. Finding solutions to these problems requires thought, hard work and finesse and most importantly a long term commitment, all qualities that nincompoop lacks.

Wow, if SecWar can’t handle it when we are shooting at a couple of speed boats, what will happen if we engage with an enemy that shoots back. So weak!

On Friday, I took Dylan, our Corgi out for a walk. Dylan is now 13 and is showing his age. Stairs are still passable, but tough for him. He still eats voraciously, but he also likes to sleep a lot. On our walk, he did his normal sniffing and snuffling, wandered into the woods to check out particular scents and generally acted like himself.

But then, he started to run. He was a younger Dylan, running with his ears blown back, his little legs bounding along. He took me by surprised, I had to run along with him. If I slowed he’d turn, look and say “Come on, keep up”. It didn’t last long, but it was so good to see. A small Thanksgiving gift.

Now that Nano Banana has created a new logo, I thought I should review the older one and explain how I got here.

I forget which AI I used to make the above logo. Androken is a mash up of the Androscoggin and Kennebec rivers’ names. They join at Merrymeeting Bay not far from where I live. I thought it would be a good name and I tried to create a logo from it.

As you can see, there are two streams of blue snaking down to the globe that represents Merrymeeting. It took numerous prompts and bad results with the AI engine to get this far. This used 2024 AI technology.

The new logo has a much more modern and crisper feel to it. The two rivers are still represented by the flow into a camera’s eye. This was the result of a single prompt, which produced four different examples. One thing that Gemini was particularly proud of (can AI be proud of something??) is that Nano was able to incorporate “Androken” into the logo without correcting or changing it as a spell correct algorithm might try to do.

In addition, Gemini/Nano Banana also produced a black and white variant:

Plus, with digital technology, I can capture the graphic and do my own typography.

All very cool.

I do understand the concern an artist might have that Nano was stealing work. Since I am not making any money from the imaging work I’m doing I cannot afford to hire an artist to make logos. We are in a very weird time where technology is quickly changing and we humans are hard pressed to keep up. A curse, possibly ancient: May you live in interesting times.

This is the second version of my video of Bordeaux and its surrounding region from trips in 2019 and 2024. Too often I still think like a still photographer rather than a videographer. Lots of stills from those trips not a lot of video. Thank you Ken Burns for showing us a way to incorporate stills into video.

I’m feeling thankful for the last four years of relative peace. Much of the world is in flames, turmoil and crisis, but here for me, life has been relatively tranquil. Unfortunately this will not be the case for at least the next four years. The divisiveness that has beset this country has only expanded and deepened. This has allowed those who thrive on chaos and fear to come to power. We will pay an heavy price for this foolishness.

Who will benefit as we descend from greatness? Our adversaries of course! China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and others all want us to be diminished. How are they accomplishing this? Divide and conquer, it is one of homo sapiens earliest tactic to overcome a stronger enemy; and, it has been well played by the above named countries.

We red and blue Americans stare at each other, wishing the other side would disappear. In the meantime, China, Russia and Iran are sharpening their knives. While we turn our eyes inward, thinking the enemy is within, those on the outside will take what they want.

So, I’m thankful for what we had. I can only look into the future with a steely resolve not to be afraid but also not to bend to the will of the chaos mongers. Life will be different.

My protest song: “Yes, we have no bananas”. The reason will become obvious in the future.