As expected, Donald Trump crushed his opponents in the Iowa caucuses after which he made a live victory speech in which he said...(Bzzzt!)...he said...(Crackle!)...he said...
Rather, the management of both networks decided to just not air anything Donald Trump says live anymore - even if it's a politically salient victory speech - because they claim they don't want to knowingly transmit anything that might be lies. Of course, they can't just leave the airtime unfilled while they're protecting you from whatever lies they've had premonitions about. So they open up the conversational floor to their (ahem) "news" people who then tell rock-solid truths like Trump has declared that he will be dictator for life, that if Trump wins he'll order the "crazies" who follow him to kill his political enemies, and that Trump will clearly destroy our country if re-elected because he forgot to do during his first Presidential term in which he was sending the economy through the roof, keeping us out of wars, improving employment and opportunities for minority Americans, projecting strength to our nation's adversaries, and giving away his salary to charity. The rat bastard.
This is among the most blatant acts of election interference imaginable and every minute of airtime devoted to talking up Joe Biden or talking down Trump needs to be listed as a political "contribution in kind" to the Biden campaign. Additionally, any special First Amendment protections applied to news organizations should be immediately yanked from these two propaganda mills.
But why do CNN and MSNBC think they need to hide Trump's words from their viewers? If what Trump is saying is offensive, then the people should hear it to help them decide who to vote for. And if what Trump is saying is lies, then the networks should air those lies along with the proof that Trump is lying - again, for the benefit of their viewers.
Then again, CNN and MSNBC may believe that their viewers are such bone-headed morons that they'll simply believe any outlandish thing they hear on cable news. In fact, that's their entire market strategy.
Then again, CNN and MSNBC may believe that their viewers are such bone-headed morons that they'll simply believe any outlandish thing they hear on cable news. In fact, that's their entire market strategy.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY ARTIFICIAL
I'm still fiddling around with AI programs and music generators (hey, I need to do SOMEthing when I'm avoiding the news) and I recently came up with a song that is...dare I say it...kind of good?
I asked ChatGPT to write lyrics that sounded like a Byrds interpretation of a Bob Dylan song. I then plugged those lyrics into app.suno.ai and told it to generate a pop song with good harmonies. There were a lot of false starts, but then a good iteration. Which started a process of prompting the engine to add a little bit more and a little bit more until it was a whole song. And I added a music video (barely) so I could stick it on Youtube.
The song itself isn't intended to be a joke nor is it political. In fact, it's a bit of feel-good inspirational throwback rock that I've been listening to when I need a mood boost (hint: hourly). And maybe you'll enjoy it, too!
I asked ChatGPT to write lyrics that sounded like a Byrds interpretation of a Bob Dylan song. I then plugged those lyrics into app.suno.ai and told it to generate a pop song with good harmonies. There were a lot of false starts, but then a good iteration. Which started a process of prompting the engine to add a little bit more and a little bit more until it was a whole song. And I added a music video (barely) so I could stick it on Youtube.
The song itself isn't intended to be a joke nor is it political. In fact, it's a bit of feel-good inspirational throwback rock that I've been listening to when I need a mood boost (hint: hourly). And maybe you'll enjoy it, too!
And for any Karaoke fans...sing along!
"Echoes of Tomorrow"
"Echoes of Tomorrow"
[Verse 1:]
In the whispers of the morning,
Through the mist of dawn's embrace,
Lies a truth that's softly spoken,
In the lines of every face.
Winds of change are blowing,
Across the fields of time,
Where dreams are sown like golden grains,
In the garden of the mind.
[Chorus:]
Oh, echoes of tomorrow,
Ring through yesterdays of sorrow,
And the songs of freedom hum,
Beneath the setting sun.
May the words we say,
Light the path and show the way,
For the echoes of tomorrow,
In our hearts will stay.
[Verse 2:]
See the river's constant flowing,
Past the mountains, through the plains,
Like the endless quest for knowing,
That in every heart remains.
Shadows of the evening,
Dance with the glow of fireflies,
While stars above keep weaving,
Tales of love beneath the skies.
[Chorus:]
Oh, echoes of tomorrow,
In the laughter and the sorrow,
Like a melody that flies,
Underneath the moonlit skies.
Let our voices rise,
Through the dark and stormy skies,
For the echoes of tomorrow,
Are the dreams that never die.
[Bridge:]
In every whispered wind,
In every songbird's call,
The answers lie within,
In the rise and in the fall.
[Chorus:]
Oh, echoes of tomorrow,
In the love that we can borrow,
From the chapters yet to write,
In the silence of the night.
Hand in hand we'll go,
Through the high and through the low,
For the echoes of tomorrow,
In our hearts will glow.
40 comments:
Wow, that was actually pretty neat!!!! Did you yourself alter your own voice and do the vocals? Well, regardless, the harmonies also reminded me a bit of early CS&N, and overall I thought it was just really enjoyable. I hope you have fun making such things, tinkering and adjusting like some guys do with train sets or other construction type hobbies. But if you keep progressing and end up famous and going on tours, flying in a private plane and being invited on shows like Hootenanny and Midnight Special, and The View, don't forget all us little people you knew on the way up!!
"I wonder how they knew stupid people would be watching their channels?"
ZING!
Here are two YouTube channels that I find soothing, Stilt. Their update rate has slowed, but if they are new to you and you find them interesting, there is plenty there.
1) Ben and Emily - young English narrowboaters (although they just announced they would like to branch out). Ben is a musician, with a somewhat quirky yet soothing musical style. Also they have a cat, Alan.
https://www.youtube.com/@BenandEmily/videos
2) Marty's Matchbox Makeovers - Marty is an Australian who restores old Matchbox cars and related models. I find his intro and outro theme relaxing, as well as his narration while he is stripping/bending/painting beat-up old Matchbox cars back into like-new condition. Also, for several of the videos, Kevin The Koala (puppet) drives off in the restored vehicle or otherwise causes mischief. He also lines his spray booth with the Australian equivalent of The National Enquirer, so reading the headlines is also fun.
https://www.youtube.com/@MartysMatchboxMakeovers/videos
Attaboy Stilt!
That was a good song. Not an expert, but I know what I like and that was far better than the dribble I hear played on the radio.
Hope Life is improving for you.
You described the CNN and MSNBC viewers quite well - Bone headed morons. Actually, that's quite generous. It also describes the "air talent", better understood as "air heads" that they put on the screen. What those two outlets produce is not "news", it's more like what you might scrape off of your shoes. I won't turn those channels on, I can't scrape it off my tv.
Nice job on the song. At our house we have been binging on Jimmy Buffet since the first of September. His last album has some thoughtful insights. And a little irreverence. But that's just Jimmy.
A) What would one expect from either of these "news" outlets?
B) Those who regularly watch these "news" outlets for their news, have long ago made up their minds about Trump and nothing short of a brain transplant will change their minds, so these "news" outlets not carrying Trump's' speech to me is a nothing burger.
And while we are on the theme of music, here's something lifted from the People's Cube website:
https://thepeoplescube.com/peoples-karaoke/hear-the-dems-cry-barry-t23884.html
Ray from NWPA says well done Stilt!
👍🏼
Your song needs a steel guitar and a fiddle in the band.
Good homework in a Cliffs Notes kind of way. Does not stand up to Cardi B's immortal WAP though, but keep trying. In truth blending the two artist styles and song types was excellent. Came off as patriotic and hopeful in a America the Beautiful kind of way.
Stilton, An old "friend" repeated CNN's talking points to me: Trump is like Hitler & Stalin & will do what they did should, God forbid, he win the WH. When she called him EVIL, I hung up on her. Can't fix stupid.
About the song, though, I am impressed that AI could make a song akin to the 60's. I read along while it played.
Through all of these years, Stilt, you remain inspirational.
Always praying for your peace of mind.
Irene
Well done, made my weekend!
Good Stilton! Like the music and the words!
Always praying for peace of mind too. Pretty certain I will not quite ever regain THAT without Jack!
Love to you always!
Kathe
Today did not begin well here and have to say your AWESOME song was a real upper....
Thank you so very much for all that you do....
it makes a HUGE difference to all of us!!!!
God Bless You!
Love and Prayers,
Carol
Personally, I have not missed the constant spewing of the Orange Baboon's hate speech. I believe that his rhetoric has caused the riff between the right & left in this country to get even wider until the extremists on each side can no longer communicate.
So why don't we all watch Fox News, because after all, they agreed to pay $787 Million because they were telling the 'truth'?
Nicely done, Stilt. Could have very well been done 50 years ago, and probably would have done respectably in the Top 20...
As for "News", I rely on you, Bo Snerdly, Twitchy and https://cigarskunk2.livejournal.com/ . Mainstream news isn't worth spending the time or electrons.
Cowbell
"But why do CNN and MSNBC think they need to hide Trump's words from their viewers? If what Trump is saying is offensive, then the people should hear it to help them decide who to vote for. And if what Trump is saying is lies, then the networks should air those lies along with the proof that Trump is lying - again, for the benefit of their viewers."
Absolutely brilliant analysis Stilton. Well played.
I appreciate your AI song-smithing efforts, but am still very ambivalent regarding the entirety of the AI phenomenon.
@Anonymous above- Seriously, Trump's rhetoric has widened the political riff in this country? Have you heard Hillary's and Lunchbucket Joe's comments over the past year or so? Crimeny!!
Oh- Riff is what Stilton's AI band produces, rift is the divide in our country's political scene.
Hey "anonymous" nice way to combat hate speech by calling President Trump an "orange baboon".
Too bad you were not in my part of the country, I could see if you had the spine to say that face-to-face. My bet is that there is a wide swath of yellow down your back though!
Stilt: feel free to nuke my comment if it is not appropriate.
For some reason it would not play the music, but I really liked the verses. Good job!
Lucy makes an excellent observation.
Glad you have somebody sensible on your staff, Stilt
Catchy little number, a little heavy on the autotune but it still beats the heck out of 'wet ass pussy'...so don't spend your grammy money all in one place ;)
Great blog today and LOVE " The Echoes of Tomorrow "
I love your song. It's no Taylor Swift, and thank God for that.
It appears you have a mole in here with the patriots. They just love to stir up trouble, especially in conservative commentary. Ignore the baboon. I don't know what his color is because he's a leftist keyboard warrior who is afraid to use his real name.
That AI assisted video is actually pretty good. I'm impressed. But now, too many words and no profanity nor vulgarity might present a marketing problem.
Now you need to work on gathering a lot more intelligent-like-us FANS; using AI if necessary.
PS: I'm thinking AI might have lifted "In the silence of the night" from Pink Floyd "On The Turning Away" a favorite of mine. IE "On the wings of the night" and Pink Floyd still rules.
@Julian- Unlike my previous "Burma Shave" AI song, I don't have any vocals on this one. Everything you hear is done by a computer - I just sat here and watched it happen. And I do have fun messing around with these things, trying to learn new skills. That's been a lifelong process of mine.
@Maoz- The question needed to be asked.
@Erik- I'll check those channels out. In the past, I've enjoyed some restoration channels. It's very satisfying seeing rust blasted or lasered off of old metal.
@Neighbor Dave- Thanks! I'll pass it along to the "band."
@Anonymous- Based on its cybernetic origin, I still feel weird about genuinely liking the song...but I do. And I think I've cut back to only listening to it about five times a day now. Thank you for the good wishes. I still have miles to go.
@Snark- I don't like using the word "hate" but those networks, and many others on the Left, have pushed me to that place. They are morally abhorrent.
And I was sorry to see us lose Jimmy Buffet. Is it just my imagination, or do we lose a lot more good people than a**holes?
@Fish Out of Water- I agree that the people tuned to those channels have already made up their minds, but how can our nation have a "fair" election when half or more of the population knows only lies? It makes democracy meaningless.
@Ray from NWPA- You're in the Northwest Women's Pool Association?!
Alan- Well, if it's gonna play in Texas... (grin)
Roger- I think historians (if any) will consider the song "WAP" the turning point at which our culture officially collapsed. And the AI song really does feel hopeful in much the same way the songs of YES do.
@Irene Peduto- One of the many things that anger me about this lunacy is that these propaganda machines turn good, well-meaning people into hate-mongers. We lose friends, family, and community because people are encouraged to hate rather than communicate. And thank you for the kind remarks and the prayers. They're very appreciated.
@Joe Drypowda- Hey, what's TGIF without a little laugh and a song?
@Kathe Houston- You and I are on the same page, Kathe. My "new normal" is still "no normal." But here we are, having and being friends.
@Carol- I can't really claim it as "my" song any more than I can claim to be a chef for ordering something good off a menu. Still, it came into being because I asked the computer nicely and it pleases me that it came out good enough to share. Who knew that ones and zeroes could give us a nice emotional lift like that?
@Anonymous- Since you find it problematic that the "extremists" on each side can no longer communicate, are you self-labeling as an extremist since you're not even making an effort to communicate? Alternative views are actually welcome here, so by all means try writing again when sober.
Sidenote: I haven't seen any Fox News in over two years. What have I missed?
@M. Mitchell Marmel- I have nothing to do with mainstream news anymore. Nothing. But I find Scott Adams' daily podcast ("Real Coffee with Scott Adams") a good jumping off point for interesting news and his perspective on it.
@Unclezip- D'oh! I knew something was missing!
@TrickyRicky- There can be no honest rationale for hiding Trump's remarks from the electorate. CNN and MSNBC (and so many others) no longer even want to play the game of misquoting players on the Right. Now they just want to lie and not let people even get the chance to be exposed to alternate points of view. That's not freedom of the press - that's oppression of the free.
And I'm ambivalent about AI too. Although I figure I might as well play with it until it takes over.
@American Cowboy- Nuke your comment? Hell, I just told "Alexa" to play "Try That In A Small Town"!
@Nancy Dickerson- Sorry the music didn't play. You can also find it on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-op-OzSUmw
@DougM- Sometimes you get lucky with a diversity hire.
@Oldarmourer- The autotune sound absolutely gives away that it's not from "back in the day." And speaking of Grammys (which we barely were), I once had a song on a Grammy-nominated album. But since it didn't win, this is a pretty short story.
@jayjay- Thanks!
@Shelly- I won't lie; I was actually charmed by the note from the troll. In a world in which perfection is so elusive, it's actually refreshing to see a perfect idiot.
@Rod- As God is my witness, I just got goosebumps when you mentioned Pink Floyd's "On The Turning Away." I love the fact that some music can do that.
They've been largely censoring Biden for years. (To hide his non-stop dementia-driven gaffes)
So from their perspective, censoring Trump is probably "equal time".
Awesome to see Lefty Lucy again. And even she's on to the "No need to listen to the source; We will tell you what to think" media. Who knows? Maybe her brain will catch on and she'll become like John Fetterman.
I've been meaning to play with some of these AI sound tools. Would have loved these a few years ago when I was doing more web-related work. I am currently playing with the graphic tools for some experimental comic concepts I've been working on.
@Stilton or anyone else with a greater sense of history than I: In the late 1930's, when there was of course no TV,.only radio news, there were some noted political firebrands, such as Huey Long (until he was assassinated) Father Coughlin (so?) and others, and wonder if there were instances in which a major radio station at the time, refused to broadcast these firebrands.
Your tune was entertaining, although I thought it sounded more like Crosby, Stills and Nash than the Byrds. That said, NO artificial intelligence could ever have written Mr. Tambourine Man.
The best part: I don't have to listen to AI political views.
As regards the Anonymous baboon, we are all wondering who the 33% who still approve of Granpaw Joe's performance were. Well, now we have found one of them,
Lets see now. Ol' SloMo is always banging on about MAGA Republicans being the death of democracy etc, and The Donald was saying stuff about conciliation and being nice to each other in his Ohio speech.
I guess as always its The Left(TM) projecting.
I'm off for some tasty Pangolin stew!
"Echoes Of Tomorrow" by the White Pants reminds me a lot of "That Thing You Do" by The One-ders, from that movie. One-hit wonders, both of them, one being a bit less artificial than the other.
As mentioned above, Lefty Lucy is almost starting to sound rational, in a Fetterman-like way. Did she have a stroke too?
I'm not at all interested in doing this myself, but for one so well versed with technology... please consider this suggestion for a sort of biography.
Compile only FACTS, fair & balanced but true. Assign AI to write an obituary for the current POTUS. Like some headstones bought in advance, must leave the DOD blank; but AI is smart; it could be ready. There might even be a series.
Late to the party as usual. Mrs. Muenster and I have been busy preparing to play music at a Robert Burns supper, which was last night. Burns had some choice words for the elite of his time. Not much has changed; read the lyrics to "A Man's a Man," and think of people like Biden, Gates, Kerry, etc. The 18th century Scots language is different, but you'll get the gist.
I'm still skeptical of AI (probably because of Terminator), but the song is nice!
@anonymous,
Most liberals assume we conservatives are glued to Fox News all day. Not true for me, I can say. I trust them more than CNN or MSNBC, but they are biased too. I like Newmax, 1440, or Epoch Times. The major networks like NBC or ABC are more guilty of omission than anything. CNN and MSNBC "report" outright lies and fabrications, and try to label it news. Not news! It's 99% opinion.
My wife told me I live in the past . The past had it's ups & downs but the lessons of time are to valuable to forsake , For the future isn't time until it is past beyond the now . Nice lyrics about the memories gone by . Thanks for the poem first and the song .
@Will249fyi, someone (It may have been Jeff Cooper but I can't swear to that) once said, "The past is another country. They do things differently there." Personally, I liked the way some of them did things then.
Why not just rename the whole country “New Mexico?”
Happy to see you back, Stilt. I thought I was going to have to be resigned to more never-ending news torture from our Controller-in-Chief. Anyway, take care, and remember to double-up on wearing your masks. :)
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