davidd's A DOLL A DAY 2024

I wonder if they make more of certain types of blind box things. Then the odds of getting the same ones would be pretty good.
This is a great shot, and with your crew it’s hard to know whether they are fighting human enemies or… maybe aliens

The new make it minis have ways to tell which one is which before you open the packaging and I appreciate that feature ALOT!
I love the shot of the army men, I wonder who is down that hole? I still think of toy story when I see little green army men.

30 January - A Doll A Day 2024:

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Head: FireGirl FG071C
Body: TBLeague S34

Oooh, I like her hat! What is Arabella's story?!

adreamingdollie wrote:Oooh, I like her hat! What is Arabella's story?!

Arabella "Ari" Carter is a photographer and she works part time at a Surf & Dive shop. Her sister is Antoinette "Toni" Carter, who recently joined Ari working at the dive shop. Both characters have appeared briefly in a long-running group photostory on an action figure forum.

There's no "story" behind the fez style hat, other than, I was trying it on a few figures to see who it might fit, and I thought it looked kinda cute on Ari.

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31 January - A Doll A Day 2024:

1 February - A Doll A Day 2024:

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Furyu Fairy Tale Special Figure Series: Super Sonico Mermaid

Figure is approximately 8-inches / 20 cm tall.

This figure has been part of my collection since sometime in mid-2016.

1 February - A Doll A Day 2024

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I know I said I might stop at the end of January. Apparently I haven't stopped... yet... despite the enthusiasm just not being there. I'll give it through the end of Leap Month.

The ubiquitous PUDDLE life preserver makes another appearance!
What lens do you use for the closeups, like Ari's?

It is a particularly good prop, the life preserver. Ari has a very cute face.

Alliecat wrote:The ubiquitous PUDDLE life preserver makes another appearance!
What lens do you use for the closeups, like Ari's?

That close-up pic is a quick snapshot using a 8-year old iPad. The low-light imaging is not very good, so I layer on the "app" filters: usually Mextures and PhotoToaster.

CatDragonStorm wrote:It is a particularly good prop, the life preserver. Ari has a very cute face.

I am very grateful to TrueFan for including the life preserver with a set of doll clothes she sent to me. It is a perfect accessory for the types of scenes I like to set up.

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2 February - A Doll A Day 2024:

I don't usually repost old photos for A Doll A Day... well, actually, I never repost old photos for A Doll A Day, because that would be cheating.

But today I ran across this pic from way back in 2007 which reminded me of how much fun I used to have with Pinky Street figures.
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Of course, part of the reason I was having fun is because I was living on the beach in Hawaii at the time. From the spot where I was standing in the living room when I snapped that photo, I could have had my feet in the ocean within like 20 seconds. I could sit there and play with dolls while watching TV and looking at the ocean with the doors and windows open and the sea breezes gently circulating through the house.

I can easily become super depressed about having made a poor decision to move. Looking back, my reasons for leaving Hawaii were not as pressing as they appeared at the time. (Among other things, there was talk about raising the mandatory flood insurance premiums on homes with mortgages to $20,000 or $30,000 per year, and some area homeowners had already received bills for those amounts. Working in the schools was becoming increasingly problematic for a number of reasons. It was pretty intense when veteran teachers I was working with would break down sobbing during conversations about how hard it was to make ends meet and other rapidly changing aspects of the situation at the time.)

I've been in a morose mindset as of late. The Hawaii thing... well, it's been nearly nine years since I left. I'll likely never be able to move back. I could dwell on that... like I often do... but that won't resolve anything, now, will it?

But when I look at that picture, I totally 100% feel what it was like. I remember it like... like, I look over from where I'm sitting as I'm typing this and I expect to see that scene and the lanai doors and the palm trees and the ocean.

At least I can see a palm tree from where I'm sitting right now. But it's on a street lined with houses.

Anyway... just posting up that pic, which is what I was gonna do, would be cheating, so here's a new one:

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P.S.: HAPPY BIRTHDAY GI JOE - Celebrating SIXTY YEARS of "America's Movable Fighting Man" - Introduced 2 February 1964

davidd wrote:
But when I look at that picture, I totally 100% feel what it was like. I remember it like... like, I look over from where I'm sitting as I'm typing this and I expect to see that scene and the lanai doors and the palm trees and the ocean.

"Objects in the rearview mirror may appear closer than they are....."
I know about pictures bringing back the feel of a place.  Sometimes it seems like it only just happened that we moved here from Ontario and it was the best gift ever, and it was so wonderful.  I took SO many pictures.  Moving away from a place that just works and then having regrets is a big fear.
I was just thinking earlier today about how I haven't had the infrequently-recurring dream about returning to Hawai'i, since my 2nd visit.  I miss that, and the feeling it gave me.  Why can't I have that recurring dream instead of the really stupid ones I have too often about the house?
Land on da Big Island is cheap -- as Hawai'i goes -- if you wanna take a chance on Madame Pele eating your house...
At least you could... I don't think foreigners are even allowed to buy land in Hawai'i now, are they? I'm kinda financially stuck in Canada anyway.

It's hard to know whether you should give up what you have because you think something else might be better.  Is fierce hope and determination to keep going, enough?  

I'm glad the PUDDLE lifesaver is useful. Probably the best promotional item I ever bought!

Is it hard to think of promotional items for puddle each year?

3 February - A Doll A Day 2024:

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I'm sorry you had to leave hawaii it sounds like heaven. Do you still teach?

CatDragonStorm wrote:Is it hard to think of promotional items for puddle each year?

Affordable promotional items that fit the theme, yes. I don't get them every year. The lifesaver was too perfect to pass up.

Face down next to someone else I hope - otherwise that looks reaaaally uncomfortable.

"Facedown Since Christmas" has to be the sequel song to "Home For a Rest".  
Someone please write this!  

Alliecat wrote:"Facedown Since Christmas" has to be the sequel song to "Home For a Rest".  
Someone please write this!  

ChatGPT will write it for you.

Like so:

Prompt:
Please write cheerful lyrics for a Christmas song called "Face Down Since Christmas" about being worn out, tired, and exhausted following the holiday season.

Result:

(Verse 1)
The presents are unwrapped, the tree's taken down,
But I'm feeling like I've been run into the ground.
The holiday hustle, the bustle, the cheer,
Left me feeling like I need a whole 'nother year.

(Chorus)
Face down since Christmas, can't seem to get up,
Wrapped up in blankets, just need to recharge my cup.
Tired and weary, but it's all in good fun,
Guess I'll just stay here 'til the new year's begun.

(Verse 2)
The feasts and the parties, the laughter and song,
Left me feeling like I've been going too long.
But memories made, and moments shared,
Make it all worth it, even if I'm ensnared.

(Chorus)
Face down since Christmas, can't seem to get up,
Wrapped up in blankets, just need to recharge my cup.
Tired and weary, but it's all in good fun,
Guess I'll just stay here 'til the new year's begun.

(Bridge)
The magic of Christmas, it's here and it's gone,
But the love and the joy, they linger on.
So I'll rest and I'll rejuvenate,
Ready to take on whatever awaits.

(Chorus)
Face down since Christmas, can't seem to get up,
Wrapped up in blankets, just need to recharge my cup.
Tired and weary, but it's all in good fun,
Guess I'll just stay here 'til the new year's begun.

(Outro)
So here's to the season, and all that it brings,
The laughter, the love, and the songs that we sing.
And though I'm exhausted, I wouldn't trade this for the world,
Merry Christmas to all, to every boy and every girl!

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6 February - A Doll A Day 2024:

Bahaha.
I knew you would.
(...you have to ask it "please"?   )

OK, it's kinda cute and funny, but... ugh, computers writing songs...  Wait, what's that sound....?
It's Jim Steinman spinning in his grave  

I have definitely been feeling like that since Christmas. She makes wrestling a dinosaur look very easy.

Alliecat wrote: OK, it's kinda cute and funny, but... ugh, computers writing songs...  Wait, what's that sound....?

An online contact on another forum recently demonstrated asking ChatGPT to write song lyrics, then he ported those lyrics in to another AI app (I've already forgotten what it was called) that created music and voices... actual singing voices... to perform the song.

And that technology is available at the "free" consumer level. Imagine what must be possible at the "professional" level.

Considering the amount of electronic enhancement that recorded and performed music has been subjected to for decades now, what real difference does it make if the computer can do it all: play the instruments, sing the songs, compose the music, all of it? Once an AI-generated song becomes a commercially successful hit, singers and musicians will be hitting the bread lines.

AI can generate the actual performers, too. Computer generated singing "idols" like Hatsune Miku have been around since at least 2007 in Japan. In 2011, music group AKB48 introduced a new band member, Aimi Eguchi... who turned out to be computer generated.

Aimi is in this video clip. Can you pick her out?



The robot future is upon us.

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7 February - A Doll A Day 2024:

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davidd wrote: what real difference does it make if the computer can do it all: play the instruments, sing the songs, compose the music, all of it?

People and their brains and their artistic emotions will no longer be necessary. Yay?


Knights fighting dinosaurs could make a fun time-travel story.