A Village of Small People


Many things come to mind when you are creating a character from nothing. Aurelia Solis (the Queen of the Golden Sun) is such a character. Let’s see how I got from a comic book cover image from a 1960s “Lost in Space” comic book to “Aurelia Solis Makes a Pact.”

The first image is a modified version of the comic book cover in which Tim and Tam Robinson are being pursued by some ugly, spear toting aliens. Apparently they are on their home planet because they have no helmets, but Tim & Tam are wearing theirs. I’ve tried to have the AI create a form fitting helmet, but it could not understand my meaning so I had it create a helmet with a force field.

I think the next step was to want the various characters from several different universes to appear in the same image and this is where the AI added it’s interpretation, which is not what I would have done. The ugly spear toting aliens are shrunk by the AI to a very small stature. That is probably because the AI didn’t interpret from the original image that these aliens were smaller because they were further down the mountain as they were pursuing Tim & Tam. But I liked it.

Interesting how the Little Village People (no pun intended) both men & women wore the same helmets, but with women adorning their helmets with flowers. One of the women isn’t wearing a helmet, but a scarf.

Note in the image where the houses of the LVP take on the same shape of their helmets. In fact you might also say that the houses look with big little people wearing helmets. And apparently the LVP work as miners and their homes are underground.

I don’t think that a warrior should carry both a spear and a saber, but I’m not going to fight the AI too much on this. It looks like from the AI generated images of the troops being marched along the Village street that the commander grabs a flag and walks with it. Also, the AI generated a hand motion in which it appears that the commander is directing some of his men off in a direction. These two images work together because there are fewer troops following him in the second pic. A natural thought that as he is walking through the street he is delegating positions for his men.

Now Aurelia Solis, not her name at all from the first, started out as a character from some other book cover and at first the AI put her in a more police type of uniform (blue with black highlights and a badge of sorts). But, I changed her outfit immediately to a gold suit with shorts. The AI produced a great rendition and we were never going back to the more mundane outfit. Although, I might think that as a back story, her other uniform was from earlier days in which she was eventually promoted to a Queen of the Golden Sun Goddess.

I zoomed in on the Golden Goddess and asked AI to give me some input as to what she might be called. It did not come up with Aurelia Solis as an option, but offered that Aurelia meant “golden” and in another possible name, that Solis meant “sun.” And that was enough for me to name her “Aurelia Solis,” representing the “Queen of the Golden Sun.” She is wearing a bunch of gold. Her winged helmet or crown screams “I am a goddess.”

Now originally there were two robots standing on either side of her. This was not a full length view of any of them, but I went on to get a full length view and one of the robots was a cyclops (which I liked). I actually had her stand on the shoulders of one who is also standing on the other robot. I then had her playing “leap frog” over them, but it might be interpreted as the pyramid falling down.

Who are the three women that are meeting, and seemingly forming a pact by their pancaked hands? Aurelia Solis who we know nothing about other than her name. The woman in blue is loosely based on Crystal, who is the love interest of Space Angel. She never looked this good in the 1960s TV show, but shapely and I like her hair. And finally the alien in burgundy who I think originally was a female Space Ranger. I had Crystal and this woman help Tim and Tam as they were being attacked on a space ship, or planet by several large fish type creatures, who appear to be able to walk with extended tentacles.

But, as a further extension of the story, the two women are found attacking a ferocious Werewolf and once he is dead we find that he was actually Tim.

What has brought these three women together on the tarmac? What is their league to the Little Village People and what about the Dapper dressed hen in glasses? Will it be baked chicken on some table in the Little Village tonight?

I had the AI create a pulp sci fi fiction cover for “Aurelia Solis Makes a Pact” in a 1950s style and then put that book on a table in the back yard. No telling what adventure or adventures await these women.

And another question comes to mind after I had Aurelia Solis meet Space Angel. He, having to wear a helmet in her native environment. If sex is possible, how do two alien creatures get together when one of them can’t breath the air of the other? And, would an offspring even be possible? Could it breath without an apparatus in both realms?


Cookbooks from Dollar Tree

Cookbooks I bought at Dollar Tree this morning 08/06/26:

  • One Pot Magic โ€” Good Housekeeping
  • The Ultimate Instant Pot Healthy Cookbook โ€” Coco Morante
  • Easy Everyday: 100 Recipes and Meal Prep Ideas for Effortless Eats โ€” Jessica Merchant
  • Nadiya’s Everyday Baking: From Weeknight Dinners to Celebration Cakes, Let Your Oven Do the Work โ€” Nadiya Hussain
  • Bread and How to Eat It โ€” Rick Easton with Melissa McCart
  • Cook It Up: Bold Moves for Family Foods โ€” Alex Guarnaschelli & Ava Clark

Now That’s Funny!

I create a lot of images using AI in order to express myself. A picture is worth a 1,000 words? So, every once in a while one of my creations (a team effort between me & my AI) even makes me laugh. Here are some of what I feel were the best and either being humorous or “spot on” about some truth I was trying to express.



The irony of this picture is that ALL the people are in their exact positions as the official White House image. The UGA Women’s Tennis Team had won the National Championship and were being honored. *Who in their right mind would put the President and their coaches (which are ALL men) in front of the honorees? — You would have put the men on each side of the women as the support people they actually are/were. Then the President could have stood in front, but on the floor. I’m guessing he had to stand on the bleacher to make him taller than all the other men, who were actually taller. So, the coaches deserved to have a change of dress. After all we are honoring the women’s team.


So the story goes that while in the grocery I looked over and saw this sweet potato. Yes, I had binge watched all the Alien movies over the weekend, but they shouldn’t have had this kind of effect, should they? I tried to avert my eyes, but they landed on this Haas Avocado. MAGA (Make Avocados Great Again) had already seen the benefits of breeding this combination of Alien & Avocado in order to keep people from ruining the avocados with too much touching. — But Ripley still exists in this universe and she whacked off the Alien Queen’s head which means, “Guacamole for everyone! Chips on the table.”

How Should the U.S. Respond If Iran Killed Trump?

Saw that question on Facebook and instead of giving the simple answer of either “Hooray,” or “Bomb them into the Dark Ages,” I decided to explore some of the options:

Hmmm… How did Germany respond when Hitler died? I know he committed suicide, but still the U.S. and Russia were putting the heat on him just before. — I know Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren’t assassinations, but killing that many people at one time could be counted as equal to doing away with one leader. How did Japan respond? How did the North respond to the South when President Lincoln was assassinated?

He has been a very worrisome leader, both for the U.S. and the whole world. for the last year and a half. He cheats at golf. Okay, he has spent a great deal of money flying between DC and Mar a Lago to play golf on the tax payer’s dime, so there would be a cost savings benefit, unless we elect a former pro golfer as the next President and even an ex-pro might be tired of golf and want to take up swimming or mountain hiking or biking.

Oh, age. Hadn’t thought about factoring in the age.

I don’t think we should destroy their oil supply system even if they do succeed. No need to be mourning AND having to pay higher gas prices. Or to take the other side, “No need to be celebrating and having to pay higher gas prices either.” Could we put the response up for a vote during the mid-terms? I don’t think we should bomb them into the dark ages even if they do. But, what is a slap on the wrist for something like this. Could we negotiate a new deal with Iran and at least get back to what Obama had given us? I don’t think I would put “boots on the ground” as retaliation. Not worth that. And, it would probably depend on when they succeeded. I wouldn’t want to ruin Thanksgiving, Christmas or the 4th of July. Even if we were going to do bad things to them as a result, could we ask for a “cease fire” period first?

Burger King Shakers #1 Spice Blend

A spice blend that I liked to put on the hash browns at Burger King:

  • Curry Powder
  • S&P
  • Garlic Powder
  • Oregano
  • Marjoram
  • Celery Seeds
  • Red Pepper Flakes

I carried a sandwich bag with the spice blend in it and would put the hash browns in it, seal it and shake it up. That would coat the hash browns in my spice mixture and then I would dip them in either honey mustard or ketchup, alternating as I liked.


Let me hit some of the highlights of these images.

This is a Burger King that is local to me. I had not had breakfast at Burger King in several years. When I was working (I’m retired about 6 years.) I might have breakfast there about twice a month. I liked the “Ham, Egg, and Cheese Croissan’wich” Combo Meal which included the sandwich, hashbrowns and a drink. I would also ask for a Honey Mustard container, and I began to bring a homemade seasoning that I would put on the hashbrowns: curry & garlic powder, oregano, thyme, marjoram, celery seeds, red pepper flakes, S&P. Eventually the idea came to me to suggest that they make “Shakers” which would just be a packet of flavorings that customers could shake onto the hashbrowns. They might have a Southwest Flavor (cumin, garlic powder, cayenne, dried cilantro flakes), or maybe an Oriental Flavor (sesame seeds, ). *I take a sealable sandwich bag to shake the spice blend onto the hashbrowns, but many years ago I recall that Hardees/McDonald’s had a tall wax paper, French fry bag and something like that would allow to put the hashbrowns in that, add the seasonings, fold the top over and shake.

I was in the Hwy. 55 in Mount Olive a couple of days ago. Mount Olive is a short distance from Goldsboro, and several times I’ve driven down to either have an order of onion rings, or go to Wendy’s for a chocolate Frostie. I hadn’t done anything with boy boy or girl girl in a while and I thought to take a picture from the booth I was in and added girl girl and had her eating one of their desserts, a Strawberry Crunch. Looks refreshing.

I happened to see this sunroom and put her drinking some hot coffee. She has a ring and a bracelet that I’ve given her, both from different magazine ads, and the blue glass mug is like one that I had for several years and then it got a crack in the glass and I threw it away. I’ve seen a mug like this at a local antiques store for $12. I may buy it, but it still seems a little expensive for a glass mug. I’ve bought ceramic mugs for $35 or $45 in Asheville.

I just put boy boy in a photo that I had made a year or so ago. I had my brand new red cart out by my car with several bags of groceries. He’s wearing a casual outfit that a school teacher might wear this season, or so says my AI.

The designs on the two shirts come from two sources. The first was from wallpaper on the wall of my CVS Pharmacy. The other was on a box at the Whole Foods in Raleigh (just off of Wade Avenue). I was returning a cart and saw a person refurbishing their orchid section. The box had various orchid related symbols. This was from the orchid vendor.

The multicolored women were from a flat image in a magazine. I love to make flat images 3D.

boy boy is showing two other seasonal outfits as the walks along the sidewalk, and also has a coffee.

And finally, I put boy boy in a waterfront scene. There was a chef in a magazine article standing here. I think it might have been Louisiana, and I’m not sure if the bridges were actually bridges in the original photo.

Beverly


I just re-watched the old Film Noir movie, D.O.A. with Edmund O’Brien. And this time I picked up on a young Beverly Garland as a secretary. She had a speaking part and was in several scenes and she was credited.

—

Virginia Christine has a minor part in the original “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” in which she senses that her Uncle Ira is no longer Uncle Ira. I just saw her in an old “Mummy” movie in which she is playing an ingenue.

boy&girl – Shopping at Rooms to Go & Elsewhere.

The funny thing so far about the images (at least most of them) shown below is that there is some element of the actual, combined with fantasy characters. The wedding gown was taken from an actual gown shown online. The blue glass coffee cup was like one I had that formed a crack and was thrown away. The ring was in an issue of Our State Magazine and the bracelet was on display in the Blue Bicycle Antiques Store in Fayetteville.

Anne is looking into a pool of water, which is an actual water feature in



Cooking & Eating with Nanny, Girl Girl & Who’s Knows Who?

Bill and Anne are enjoying making Frogmore Stew in their Instant Pot at home. It turned out so good that as they were sitting at their table eating Bill suggested that Anne pay a visit to her older sister, Nanny. “That sounds like a good idea. I haven’t seen her in a while and I don’t think she has ever fixed Frogmore Stew in her Instant Pot. Cooking and eating will give us some time to catch up. I can tell her about our trip to the North Carolina Coast, and ballooning, but I’m not going to mention spaceships or hippies. “Good idea, about not mentioning the doobie inspired hallucinations,” said Bill with a wry smile.

So about a month later, during her visit with Nanny, they decided to fix some Frogmore Stew, but Nanny doesn’t like okra, and to boil a sweet potato and mash it for a side dish.

Nanny had a mid sized sweet potato and they checked with their AI about the cooking time. Only about 16 minutes and now it’s done. Take it out, peel the skin off, add a little butter and begin mashing it. Add a little cinnamon and some sweetener. And then just a dollop of sour cream and we’re ready for the table.

Now to the Frogmore Stew. They already had the ingredients cut up. Just a simple cleaning out the Instant Pot steel pot, add the ingredients into the steamer basket and then in with 1 and a third cups of water and a generous amount of Reduced Sodium “Old Bay” Seasoning. Put the lid on and set for 3 minutes at High Pressure. And as soon as the cooking stopped, they pressed the Instant Release button.


How about helping Nanny & Anne fix some Wakame Seaweed Salad.

The following recipe only fixes a small amount of this side dish but it is high calorie and delicious.

Example Scenario (Serving Size 1):

  • Walmart Seaweed Salad (1/3 cup): 75.0 calories
  • 1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil: 40 calories
  • 1/2 tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce: 10 calories
  • 1 tsp Red Wine Vinegar: 0 calories
  • 1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes: 0 calories
  • 1/2 tsp White Sesame Seeds: 20 calories
  • 1 tsp Agave Nectar: 20 calories
  • 1 packet Equal: 0 calories
  • 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder: 0 calories
  • Almonds (1/16 cup whole): 42 calories
  • Dried Cranberries (1/16 cup): 23 calories
  • Wonton Strips (1/2 tbsp): 8.75 calories

Total Calories = 238.75 calories