davidd's A DOLL A DAY 2024

[Alliecat]

Aw, that's too bad. Maybe an antique dealer? She's cute. I see a few sold on .ca, all the way from $13 to $145. But many have not.
Yes, I can relate to needing to be "rehomed" (hate that word).

[davidd]

29 July - A Doll A Day 2024:

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"Arrright, I'm standing up. Now what?"

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I don't know, but standing up is a start, right?

(See: A Doll A Day - 27 July 2024)

Integrity Toys Dynamite Girls "Back to Brooklyn" Gavin doll

[Alliecat]

I don't know, but standing up is a start, right?

Depends. I stand up first thing out of bed and want to get right back into bed again
She's pretty and I really like her trenchcoat. Does it have a wire in the bottom to turn it up to look windblown? The bag looks cool too.

[davidd]

I stand up first thing out of bed and want to get right back into bed again.
... and I really like her trenchcoat.  Does it have a wire in the bottom to turn it up to look windblown?  The bag looks cool too.

I usually make it through the first half-hour or so; shower, bite of breakfast, and then start thinking what's the use, may as well go back to bed.

Yes, the coat has a wire hem. I've never really played around with it. I should try to create a more dynamic pose using that feature. I think the jacket and bag are from a military action figure set.

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30 July - A Doll A Day 2024:

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With Lash and Sabre

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Try'na set up an action pose. Kinda meh but getting there maybe.

[Alliecat]

Yes, you need an ongoing pirate crew adventure.

[davidd]

31 July - A Doll A Day 2024:

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AI GENERATED IMAGE using OpenArt.ai

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The text-only prompt was to generate a Pullip doll in steampunk style holding a sword standing at the helm of a Victorian-era steam yacht.
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I'm impressed that the AI got the oversized head and large eyes and pouty lips of the Pullip doll correct, and even put in a joint at the shoulder.
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The background looks so cool that I want to try to actually build a physical model like that in 1/6-scale... but I think it's well beyond my skill set.
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In typical AI fashion, one of the hands is geeked up, and there's an extra sword blade at screen left. Still, the Victorian background looks pretty cool, and the doll head and hair... there are even random stray hairs... and the costume look fantastic.

The results of this simple text prompt kinda have me wondering if I want to continue messing around with doll and action figure photography, or if I would find it more interesting (and fun) to learn the intricacies of AI generative art.
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Here's another one:

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AI GENERATED IMAGE using OpenArt.ai 

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The hands were really messed up on the second image, so I cropped it above the elbows. Isn't that hat with the goggles fantastic? I'd love to see something that nicely crafted as an actual doll costume.

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Here's the website I used: https://openart.ai/home

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Here's the text prompt:

Pullip doll, steampunk, bustier, corset, attractive, girl, goggles, standing at the helm of a Victorian era steam yacht, pirate battle raging in the background, photorealistic, doll photography, action figure photography, short skirt, mesh stockings, tall boots, holding a sword

(Apparently the "pirate battle raging in the background" was too much to compute! )

[Alliecat]

(Apparently the "pirate battle raging in the background" was too much to compute!

Hahaha.... Maybe it got hung up on the descriptive "raging"?
The dolls look really cool, but it never ceases to amaze me how AI can create such detail in some things but can't do hands. It's not like there aren't a fazillion examples of photos it could draw from.
Ah well. There are fazillions of sailing ship images too, but AI can't do rigging for s**t.
I wonder what the second wheel is for?

[insert long diatribe about AI "art", and whether something that takes 10 seconds to generate off a few words has any soul at all in comparison to a doll photo setup that someone spent a couple of hours or more on, doing wardrobe and setting and lighting and so on, and put actual human thought and time and effort and creativity into]

[davidd]

I wonder what the second wheel is for? 

[insert long diatribe about AI "art", and whether something that takes 10 seconds to generate off a few words has any soul at all in comparison to a doll photo setup that someone spent a couple of hours or more on, doing wardrobe and setting and lighting and so on, and put actual human thought and time and effort and creativity into]

The "Victorian steam yacht" looks more like a "steampunk airship gondola" to me, so I presume the "second wheel" is to adjust fore-and-aft balance, or pitch. 

Does AI art have as much "soul" as tedious miniature photography set-ups? That's an interesting question for which there is no easy answer. There's probably less swearing involved (although maybe not, considering the hand issues). For most casual AI users, yes, there's not much thought going in to the process. People dream up cutesy or quirky one or two sentence descriptions and paste them in to see what the AI app will spit out.

More serious users, however, learn how to use key words to influence output; how to properly sequence terms in a prompt; and they may spend hours or days or longer fine-tuning the AI apps to generate the output they want to see. The apps can in fact be used as tools to create a specific type of output. "Models" can be created based upon a library of sample images (or color or textures or lighting styles). Auxiliary coded algorithms called LORAs can be used to fine-tune "models." Further AI-enhanced tools allow images to be combined and areas of images to be replaced, improved, or enhanced using a process called "in-painting." The AI apps are basically "Photoshop on steroids," offering the option to edit and enhance existing images as well as to create images from scratch using only words.

One of my Instagram contacts, who now posts mostly AI images, started out doing doll photography. Then he began enhancing his doll photos with AI. Then he began working on computer models based on his doll photos. Then he began creating computer models of the various outfits the doll wore. Then he researched different scenarios, both historical and fictional, and began altering the models and LORAs to fit the doll in to settings based on history and literature. He began ex-perimenting with having his doll "interact" with historical figures. So in that case, yeah, there's definitely "soul" (and a lot of time-consuming effort) involved in the AI images.

If I hadn't inadvertently become acquainted with (in an online sense) that particular guy back when he was doing doll photos, I would not have any idea whatsoever about how AI imaging worked, and I would assume "you just type in some words" and create soulless, effortless images. Which is, for the most part, still largely true. But not always.

[EXAMPLES: here's the doll with a model airplane:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6yJQzXLTD_/

Here's the AI illustrated version of the doll hanging out with Amelia Earhart:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C4KRXyZuIvT/?img_index=1

Kinda cool, huh?]

If you want to go on a "long diatribe," here's something for you: combine your diatribe from last week about real estate listing descriptions with your diatribe about AI! I just got off the phone with the real estate agent with whom I am working on the Florida house. In jest I said something about how I should have looked at his other listings to get a better idea of his creative writing talent. He laughed, but then told me he works with a "listing coordinator" (or some such title) to develop the descriptions "and we use AI."

That goes a long way toward ex-plaining why all real estate listings sound the same anymore, doesn't it? They're not even being written by somebody who has seen the property! The listing descriptions are "coordinated" by somebody using AI tools.

I'm beginning to think that most "writing" for public consumption (newspapers, broadcast media, magazines, newsletters, advertising, and blogs) is largely done by AI apps now. I am acquainted with a woman who used chatGPT to write articles for her company newsletter. I'm guessing that most "content" is now either AI generated or AI  enhanced.

Is AI writing "soul-less?" In my opinion, yes. No question. Yes.

But then, some writing, factual writing, is supposed to be largely soul-less, or at least neutral in tone without bias or opinion. Sadly, very little AI generated text is truly neutral. It's soul-less, because there's no thinking involved. But the programmers behind the scenes definitely have their fingers on the scales when it comes to neutrality. Have a chat with chatGPT or another AI app some time, and take a "politically incorrect" stance on an issue as you phrase your input, and see what happens. 

Is AI image generation "soul-less?" Most of it, yeah; it's people typing in silly prompts to see what happens. There are, however, a few people working to learn everything they can about the image generation technology so they can use it for specific purposes or to generate desired results. There are people working behind the scenes on the apps to make them faster and more detailed and more responsive to user input.

However, the image generating apps are extremely dangerous. "The camera doesn't lie" has never been entirely true, but today, there is not a single image that can be trusted. Not one. The image generating and image altering technology is far too powerful already. Now even the consumer level AI image apps are getting involved in video generation. AI apps create music and voices... and can mimic human voices and speech with remarkable accuracy. Anything seen on a screen or heard through a speaker is suspect.

We are living "in the matrix" whether we want to or not.

Sure, we could "unplug." That's easy enough. If we're not looking at screens, we're not seeing fake images (unless we pick up a magazine or newspaper). Unfortunately, the people in charge, the politicians and bureaucrats, are looking at screens, and they make the decisions that affect us all. What recourse do we, as individuals, have against "the state" making decisions based on AI altered information? What defense do we, as individuals, have against so-called "voters" who cast their votes based on the AI-generated content the media is continually hammering them with?

I tell myself it is worthwhile to at least be somewhat aware of the state of AI in pop culture - image apps, writing apps, etcetera - so I will (maybe) recognize them when they are being used or so I will be aware of when they might be used. But really, it doesn't matter. There's nothing I can do about things.

Additionally, I think the "free" and "consumer level" apps, much like video games, streaming video, and social media, are another form of electronic heroin to keep us addicted to our screens and to keep us from genuinely interacting with other people who are still thinking; and to part us from our money. (Most people aren't thinking anymore, by the way; or so it seems to me. When was the last time you talked about "an issue" with somebody who didn't simply parrot a "party line" identical to what their chosen media outlet tells them to think? When was the last time you had a conversation with somebody who could offer concrete factual reasons supporting an opinion or belief?)

So yeah, I often want to "unplug" and go for a walk in the hills or stare at the river or take a nap; but what will I find when I come home or wake up? Grocery prices are up another 20% over last week, utility prices are the same, the income tax and property tax have taken an enormous jump, and some *sshole is telling me I have to wear a mask and submit to an injection if I want to keep my job or ride the bus or shop for groceries. Even unplugging doesn't work, because eventually we get hungry or thirsty and when we wander back to civilization to grab a Coca Cola or a coffee we find that we can't afford the soda or the coffee and we are shunned because we do not carry the mark of the beast.

And all this because I asked a stupid online game to draw me a picture of a Pullip doll.  

I shoulda asked chatGPT to write this rant internal dialog for me. I wonder what it would have looked like?

And with that: how 'bout another fake Pullip picture:

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1 August - A Doll A Day 2024:

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Another AI image generator prompt for a Pullip doll, this time asking for a Victorian style doll wearing a long skirt with a narrow waist.
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The AI did a surprisingly realistic render of the ungainly wrist joints of a typical Pullip doll. Again, the oversize head, large eyes, and pouty lips are plausible, and a few random stray hairs are visible.
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I am somewhat concerned about the "faux text" at the bottom right of the third image. I did not include "text" as part of the prompt, nor did I supply a "seed image." The text certainly supports the case that the AI apps are scouring the Internet for image sources, including images likely bearing copyright disclaimers or source credit.
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AI app: OpenArt.ai

[Alliecat]

Those look pretty good.  Again I have to chuckle at the details on the dress but it can't quite do hands.  This stuff is here to stay, but yes, absolutely I think AI is snurching images off the internet that may have copyright, because where else would it get its information?
I have seen a deep fake or 2, one with a Canadian newscaster that was very convincing unless you looked really closely at his lips.  Average screen resolution, people wouldn't notice.  I agree the whole thing is dangerous to the integrity of information, and it's hard to believe anything I see or read anymore.  Even human-produced "news" isn't necessarily accurate, or even true (see Canadian reporting on the truckers' convoy).  The adage to not believe anything you hear and only half of what you see becomes more and more true.

As someone who works for a small-town, old-school newspaper where I write every word of every article, I have to indulge in my rants about AI-generated stuff.  Sometimes I think things I read ARE human-written because of the misused words and bad grammar.  AI wouldn't do that, would it?  Some of the stupid things I see in realtors' listings where they simply haven't even proofread convinces me that some dumb human wrote it.
(I made the realtor laugh in today's visit when I launched into realtor-speak to describe the house.  This one may be someone I can work with; the first one was just not a good match.)

I just could not be bothered learning all that programming stuff to do "real AI art" or whatever they want to call it.  I will always prefer to handle actual creative materials, and see art done by people who did the same.  Paintbrushes, pens, cameras, whatever.  To each their own; I guess the world would be less interesting if we all liked all the same things.

I can't see the Amelia Earhart & doll pic -- the link just goes to an index and Instagram doesn't work on this laptop without me logging in, which it won't let me do anyway. 
>>... started out doing doll photography. Then ...Then ... Then ... Then ...<<
"Once you start down the path to the dark side..."   

>>Have a chat with chatGPT or another AI app some time, and take a "politically incorrect" stance on an issue <<
Well that shouldn't be hard... 
I've never used it; there are way more other things that I "need" to do, let alone WANT to do.

>>Additionally, I think the "free" and "consumer level" apps, much like video games, streaming video, and social media, are another form of electronic heroin to keep us addicted to our screens and to keep us from genuinely interacting with other people who are still thinking;...<<
Yup.  Just the other day in response to a dumb thing I saw online, I said "humans are doomed"...

>>When was the last time you talked about "an issue" with somebody who didn't simply parrot a "party line" identical to what their chosen media outlet tells them to think? When was the last time you had a conversation with somebody who could offer concrete factual reasons supporting an opinion or belief?)<<
Well, actually the housesit folks in TX in April were great.  Some of the best political discussions I've ever had, just a sharing of opinions.  I miss my friend from the library with whom I had the best talks about religion.  And that might relate directly to your other comment about keeping one's job, but we'll never know...

Groceries went up 20% in a WEEK?  Yikes.  Yes, cost of living here is stupid too.  I just got a mailout from the local MP with a bunch of "statistics" (from where??) about the increased cost for certain foods.  Every time I go to the grocery store it's a litany of "HOW much???!"

Well, that's all I've got.  I'm just trying to stay afloat till I can find a quiet harbour...  It's a rare quiet night without shrieking brats and banging construction vehicles (by 10:30 it does get quiet) so I am sitting in the dark on the porch hoping I'm not getting mosquito-bit.

[davidd]

As someone who works for a small-town, old-school newspaper where I write every word of every article, I have to indulge in my rants about AI-generated stuff.  Sometimes I think things I read ARE human-written because of the misused words and bad grammar.  AI wouldn't do that, would it?

  ... so I am sitting in the dark on the porch hoping I'm not getting mosquito-bit.

Do you write your own lurid attention-grabbing click-bait headlines, or does the editor/publisher do that?

Do you have a screened porch, or is it completely open air? Might be time to go at it with a stapler and some plastic mesh! 

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2 August - A Doll A Day 2024:

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ArtBot Version - Pirate Doll

I ran the same prompt I used at OpenArt.ai through the image generating app at tinybot.net/artbot and this was the result: definitely "doll-like" with even more realistically rendered joints than the OpenArt version, but ArtBot seems less familiar with the specific design features of Pullip dolls. With ArtBot I got "two for the price of one," it seems!

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Part of the difference in appearance could be the "image model" I selected. As I do not know much about image models, I selected one called "Edge of Realism" at random.

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The hands are not bad. There's a weird random sword thing happening, as in the OpenArt version.

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No complaints about the corset costumes or the boots!  

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Meanwhile, from the OpenArt site, how's about a doll riding a motorcycle?

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Doll Riding a Motorcycle in the Desert at Night

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This time I did not specify the type of doll other than "brunette doll action figure." The prompt included something about "riding a motorcycle through the desert at night" and "motorcycle boots."

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I thought the boots turned out nicely, and I quite like the "plastic-y toy-like look" of the motorcycle.

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I'm not sure what's going on with the twin moons, but they look cool.

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Funny thing: in my doll and action figure photos I try to hide or disguise the points of articulation, or blur them out in post-production editing, but in these AI images I'm looking at how authentically the doll joints are rendered. The ArtBot app did an impressive job rendering the joints: check out the action figure style shoulder joints on those pirate babes! The motorcycle rider has great "doll knees," kind of a hybrid between a Mattel Made-to-Move and a DiD action figure body in style.

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Anyway... I know it's kinda cheating to use AI images for my "doll a day" project pics... but it's my project so I can change the rules if I wanna. 

'Cept I don't really wanna, so I'll try to get back to "real" (color, contrast, and sharpness enhanced, cropped for visual impact) photos tomorrow. Unless the weather is still too hot and my torpor continues.

[Alliecat]

Looks like that bot has a penchant for, well, certain body types...

No complaints about the corset costumes or the boots!  

I had to read that line twice.

The 2nd one is really good and I really want to not feel bad for liking it, despite the part of me that's all like "UGH, AI! NOOOO!"   As the person on Flickr wondered, are we on Tatooine with two suns?



I always write a headline on them; sometimes he uses them; sometimes he doesn't.  Yep, they're sure lurid: "Council eyes infrastructure updates".  Ooooo.
A screen porch would be lovely.  Just one more request for the impossible-unicorn Next House. 
Maybe the mosquito buckets I just assembled will work.

[davidd]

I had to read that line twice.
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I always write a headline on them; sometimes he uses them; sometimes he doesn't.  Yep, they're sure lurid: "Council eyes infrastructure updates".  Ooooo.

A screen porch would be lovely.  Just one more request for the impossible-unicorn Next House. 

 Hmmm... now that you mention it, I see how that line might be mis-read at first glance. 

I looked at the current issue online. I did not see your by-line on the front page (the only page available online). Maybe you need to juice up your headlines! 

"The Impossible-Unicorn Next House," huh? Have you ever read the poem "Vagabond's House" by Don Blanding?

https://allpoetry.com/Vagabond's-House

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3 August - A Doll A Day 2024:

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Pond Pump Repair

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Using a Swiss Army Knife and assorted plumbing fittings, Janie repairs the hose connection on a garden pond pump.

(The pump is an Alpine Eco-Sphere, if you're curious about such things. Some cows waded through the pond and broke the hose fitting while doing so, if you're curious about that aspect.)

[Alliecat]

More repairs! It never ends, eh? I would be annoyed about people’s cows wandering through my yard! At least you haven’t had a drought to dry out the pond? How hot is it?
Fun poem. I would like to be able to have souvenirs from my travels throughout my house. I would like to have a house where I can display such things, and I would like to be able to travel more and not spend all my time looking for a house.

[davidd]

More repairs! It never ends, eh? I would be annoyed about people’s cows wandering through my yard! At least you haven’t had a drought to dry out the pond? How hot is it?
... and I would like to be able to travel more and not spend all my time looking for a house.

Never ending; you know the drill!

The wandering cattle are annoying, but they're only occasional visitors, and they are easier to contend with than kids on ATVs.

Warmer than usual summer so far, with days up to 90F/32C. Fortunately the nights cool down to 50F/10C or lower. Normal levels of precipitation so far. Slightly higher than "average" snowpack last winter, and despite lurid predictions by "eksperts" of another drought year, the "monsoon season" has settled in as normal with late-summer rains. I have to run water in to the pond every three or four days to top it off for losses due to evaporation.

Say, how about a travel trailer? Live full-time on the road? Maybe one of these:

https://bowlus.com/query/choice-26/

Errr... maybe not that one. A "starting price" of over three-hundred grand? And that's in American dollars! The top o' th' line Airstream starts at a hundred grand less:

https://www.airstream.com/travel-trailer...avel--16rb

Oh well... it's only a dream house, anyway!  

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4 August - A Doll A Day 2024:

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Lost & Found

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I thought I'd lost this container and all the figures in it. I had become certain that I had accidentally disposed of these action figures and parts - so certain was I, in fact, that I had already purchased replacements for some of the smaller accessories.

I had looked through all of my "current" storage tubs three or four times, from the top to the bottom of the stack, taking everything out of the tubs and packing it back in to be sure I did not overlook anything. I had torn through stacks of empty boxes. I'd looked under tables. I'd looked in places where there was no reasonable reason for me to have stashed anything.

I had looked, or I thought I had looked, pretty much everywhere... except, apparently, where I had managed to stash this plastic tub with the missing action figures.

I was looking for something completely unrelated yesterday and in the process I moved some other things, and then I saw a tub that had something else I'd been planning to look for. When I went to move that  tub, there was yet another tub on top of it that I had to move first to gain access.

Then I discovered there was STILL ANOTHER tub on top of the one I had almost randomly decided to open, a small plastic tub that had been pushed to the back, hidden under a shelf, and in that hidden, buried tub were the missing figures I had given up for lost.

I can't quite figure how that tub and those figures ended up behind a stack of unrelated items, but I'm thinkin' maybe I have way too many of said "unrelated items" and a major mega-purge is in order.

4 August - A Doll A Day 2024

[Alliecat]

That’s the box you thought you took to the dump? Yay!
Maybe you need to make some lists of where things are.

I'm thinkin' maybe I have way too many of said "unrelated items" and a major mega-purge is in order.

Yeah, but you won’t…