Adventure Time Thoughts

I miss seeing new Adventure Time cartoons.

There don't seem to be as many original shows out there that push the imagination envelope. (Yes, there are shows like Rick and Morty, Hilda, and a handful of other great cartoon series out there. But to me there seems to be a void with new original content from the past 2 years.) As an illustrator and character designer, I'm not watching as many cartoons anymore - we need more Adventure Time-like, Steven Universe and Hilda shows to bring back true imaginative storytelling.

Digital Sketch of a slightly small and young Finn from Adventure Time
using Adobe Fresco and a charcoal crayon setting, with a limited color pallet

I enjoyed the sequel post-shows and Fiona series on Netflix, and feel there is so much more possible with the characters and history of the original. So, I started imagining a prequel series for Adventure Time. We have seen Finn as a baby, and were given several alternative reality versions of Finn. But I was thinking, what about Finn as a young kid, say 8 years old? That's a perfect age where he is becoming aware of the world, but is still not quite prepared to go out and bravely adventure.

I was thinking he'd be younger, smaller, and more immature. The series could explore the origins of Finn and Jake meeting characters for the first time. It could explain the gear Finn found and uses, such as his backpack and iconic bunny hood. (I know some of Finn's past has been explained, but there is still much left untold. At least, I believe there is... MORE ADVENTURE TIME!... please...)

An ARGH! Tune: So Long (Classic Rock CSNY)

This song was inspired by the Crosby, Stills Nash and Young style from the '70s. 

The song reflects on my past, a friend, and the night John Lennon died. 

I was 16 at the time, totally absorbed with music -- as I had been since the age of 12. Any money I was making (or given) was going into buying records (or instruments). 

So Long (Classic Rock CSNY)

Flashing back to a bus ride going home after Jr. Highschool, a friend introduced me to a Beach Boys fan. The three of us would talk of our favorite songs and albums, only to find out we were all complete Beatles fans. From then on, that Beach Boy fan and I hung out everyday, listening to old and new music, dreaming of starting a band and writing our own songs.

Years later, the night of Dec. 8th, 1980, would change the world as we knew it (as much as a 16-year-old could comprehend). I still remember that night. I heard someone confirm Lennon's time of death on TV. It was late. Still, I had to call my friend. 

His mother answered the phone; she was awoken. I apologized, then told her what had happened -- I said I needed to talk to her son. She understood -- I waited as she went to wake up my friend. Minutes later, he picked up the phone confused. She didn't tell him what happened -- so I did, and told him to put on channel 7. We both watched the news, not saying a word for what seemed to be an hour. We both broke down, breaking the rule of never letting someone know you were crying -- but it didn't matter. Nothing did.

I still remember that night clearly. It changed much in me. Changed my view of all things. 

This Dec. 12, 2024, will mark the 10th year of that friend's passing, so these things have been on my mind. Whenever I hear of Lennon being remembered on Dec. 8th, it reminds me of my friend who died so close to that date. 

This song is for you Rich.

Created using UDIO's AI technology

Music: "So Long (Classic Rock CSNY)" — lyrics and prompt arrangements by Jim Romer

Want to hear more of my songs? Link: youtube.com/@ArghTunes

Pop! Boom! Bang! (a Techno-Swing ARGH!Tune)

Here is another ArghTune I did a few months ago.

This time it's done in an Techno-Swing format, inspired by bands like Caravan Palace. This song got over 400 listens on the first 4 days on YouTube; which is surprising since I didn't really promote it or mention it to anyone. I'll be posting more of my AI songs as they get uploaded to YouTube.

My original Techno-Swing song, got many listens on YouTube

Want to hear more of my songs? Link: youtube.com/@ArghTunes

AI Advances: Music!

WOW! Have things advanced in AI music these past few months!

For the past year, I've been deeply involved in learning, using, and putting together AI websites and programs to work for me as a product designer. The improvements are usually amazing and often happen in large leaps. Graphic generation alone has been mind-blowing. It is not perfect, so much is still hit-and-miss.

As for video generation, it is way too new and early -- and I'm not impressed at the overall look of these seconds-long videos. It needs to be less random; currently, there is no consistency. I find it annoying and boring. But enough about that, let's go back to the music . . . 

Okay, here's a song I generated.
The songs I create aren't simply left to AI to fully create. I wrote the lyrics, fully described what I wanted to be included in the song, and generally guided the direction of the song in 32 seconds parts. The best way to describe creating AI music is that you are like a producer in a recording studio, keeping the stuff you like and generally saying "Well, that part's not right -- how about doing it this way instead?" "Add a harmonica solo here.", or "add in a 3-part harmony chorus at this point."

AI Music: ArghTune

My first attempt at doing Crosby, Stills, and Nash song
with a cameo appearance of Paul McCartney towards the end

I'm using Udio which allows developing a full song by building half-minute sections at a time. Udio is currently in beta mode as of this writing, its still free to use, BUT, the $10/month is much more worth the time if you really want to generate your own songs. There is a huge random outcome to most of this process. I find I generally need about 12-32 takes to find the 30+ second clips I want. 

Want to hear more of my songs? Link: youtube.com/@ArghTunes

Google's New AI, Bard - 1st Impression

You might expect a well-known and powerful company like Google to eventually enter the AI competition arena. One could assume that Google has had a major AI-like system for years, used for web searches and information gathering. Or perhaps not? My first impression of Bard, Google's response to ChatGPT, is, "Holy $#%&! This might be the worst AI I've encountered in over a year!"

Let me explain the level of detail I usually expect. As a toy designer, I use AI to help me collect images of toys, conduct market research, and explore styles and color schemes, among other things. Recently, a client requested generic toy robots but wasn't sure about the exact appearance. This is where AI shines, by generating images/mock-ups in a variety of possible styles.

A very traditional cute metal toy robot design - requested in metallic silver without colors

Another variation showing different flocked materials and some color accents

Above are two examples of robot toy designs, created by Dall-E (also known as ChatGPT-4).

I find Dall-E to be the best at "listening" to exactly what I'm asking for in my toy design prompts. Many other image generators tend to overlook key details mentioned in the prompt. Now, let's look at what Google's Bard created. Note: This was done using the exact same prompts I used with Dall-E.

Google . . . I'm speechless. (Was this thing shot in the chest?)

This one's even better. And by "better" I mean worse.
Why the colors? Why does it look old, grimy and used.

These things would give nightmares to the Island of Misfit Toys. They do look as if a child created them. The colors are so muted and conflicting. If AI was involved with these designs, I'd like to know how it came to this point. Personally, I feel Google shouldn't have released Bard to the public. They should have kept it closed until their technology was at least on par with the AI world a year ago.