Update time

Sometimes the little updates make it all better ;)

New Personal Project: Deliberate Acts of Stillness

Just finished up a personal photography project I started in May in Yachats, Oregon called, “Deliberate Acts of Stillness”. I series of Landscapes I made while down there trying to explore some different photographic techniques. Links to here on the Site and on Behance.

Photoshop Beta

So we have been testing the crap out of the new AI stuff in the Photoshop Beta and there is some pretty interesting stuff going on for sure. The “Remove” tool is the biggest improvement since the Healing Brush was introduced, what almost 20 years ago now?

This is just the first swipe. While not perfect, it’s getting us like 80% of the way there.

The new AI fill was just added this AM and I just went to extend the BG of an AI image I generated for a recording of one of my bands. While it’s mostly screaming jibberish, it’s a start and could give us something to poke and prod around with. Need more testing and I need more coffee.

Between this and getting AI running in Houdini, there is some very interesting times ahead for sure. Getting that all set up is the next “Tinker Time” for me for sure.

Can you find the wolves?

“SCORSESE: I’m old. I read stuff. I see things. I want to tell stories, and there’s no more time. Kurosawa, when he got his Oscar, when George [Lucas] and Steven [Spielberg] gave it to him, he said, “I’m only now beginning to see the possibility of what cinema could be, and it’s too late.” He was 83. At the time, I said, “What does he mean?” Now I know what he means.”

Testing new photo technique

Trying out some different techniques with a ND filter. Starting to wrap my head around it a little better.

New Stuff!

Holy crap, would you look at that, I finally got around to adding more stuff to the portfolio today. Thanks to the client who pushed out to EOD, you know who you are, LOL!

The Bandcamp Guide to Deerhoof

I do enjoy me some Deehoof. It’s not exactly easy listening though and some mornings I need some mellower sounds. But you can’t deny that they are for sure pushing the limits.

“A conversation with Deerhoof founder and percussionist Greg Saunier is as likely to touch on French writer and philosopher Édouard Glissant’s concept of opacity and Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine as it is on Beck’s early album chronology and Melvins’ drummer Dale Crover’s technique. Saunier retains an encyclopedic knowledge of not only Deerhoof’s history but of the social, cultural, and political forces that were at play when the band were composing their albums.

Speaking of encyclopedic, a whole collection of volumes could be written about each of Deerhoof’s albums with lengthy individual entries that delve into the philosophy and creation of each song. Using a consensus approach to song crafting, they strive for a balance of voices between Saunier, bassist and singer Satomi Matsuzaki, and guitarists John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez on each album.”

Thanks Josh!

How AI Is Upending The Freelance World

“In early April, business consultant Sean O’Dowd uploaded two job postings on Upwork and within 24 hours he received close to 300 applications from freelancers explaining why they should be hired. Of the 300 proposals, he suspects more than 200 were done by ChatGPT”

…

“I'm really frankly worried that millions of people are going to be without a job by the end of this year,” says Shea, cofounder of New York-based Fashion Mingle, a networking and marketing platform for fashion professionals. “I’ve never hired a writer better than ChatGPT.”

Todays Ai Prompt.

“professional drumset in a misty forest at dawn photorealistic”

I kinda knew it would do terrible with a drumset though. I figured with the Chad Smith post this would be fun.

Todays AI Prompt

“coffee and cigarettes in a diner early morning light photo”

‘Tear Gas Tuesday’ in Downtown Portland

A War Crimes Team Investigated the Portland Police. The Results Are Damning

The investigative findings released Monday by Forensic Architecture are stark:

  • On the night of June 2, 2020 — infamous to locals as “Tear Gas Tuesday” — Portland Police fired nearly 150 “tear gas” munitions across a tight area of downtown. 

  • The CS gas deployed resulted in protesters being exposed to concentrations far higher than those deemed “immediately dangerous to life and health” by a federal agency. In some instances, that safety threshold may have been exceeded by 2,200 times.

  • Clouds of chemical compounds spread half a mile, hanging in the air between downtown buildings for hours that night. With settling and runoff, more than four pounds of the caustic compounds polluted the nearby Willamette River, threatening wildlife.”