I Wondered When This Would Happen

The above photo is one of many AI photos created to show “what Elvis would look like if he were still alive.” While it is interesting to see what AI comes up with, things are beginning to get out of control.

Scroll Instagram or Tik Tok today and you will eventually find videos that feature AI renditions of celebrities that have passed away. The ones that have come up the most feature familiar faces and the voices are very close to their real voice.

A forgetful Ronald Reagan lost in the halls of the White House
Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream that the ice cream machine would be working (among other things)
JFK riding in the Dallas motorcade saying, “This is so boring. Just shoot me.”
Rod Serling talking about the time traveling DeLorean
Elvis as Captain Kirk in Star Trek, Indiana Jones, and Han Solo in Star Wars
Mr. Rogers in a movie trailer that has him physically fighting painter Bob Ross
George Carlin standing in his grave doing jokes about the state of the country

One more that seems to be everywhere is Robin Williams. I’ve seen him hosting a podcast in heaven where he interviews Freddie Mercury, Jimi Hendrix, and John Lennon; I’ve seen him walking a dog out on the streets of New York joking around with people; and seen him ordering a coffee at Starbucks while tossing out puns about coffee. The voice on these is so good, you’d think it really was him.

These AI creations are something that has caused Robin’s daughter to speak out. Zelda Williams posted on her Instagram page this week asking people to “just stop sending me AI videos of Dad.” She went on to say, “Stop believing I wanna see it or that I’ll understand, I don’t and I won’t,” she wrote. “If you’re just trying to troll me, I’ve seen way worse, I’ll restrict and move on. But please, if you’ve got any decency, just stop doing this to him and to me, to everyone even, full stop. It’s dumb, it’s a waste of time and energy, and believe me, it’s NOT what he’d want.”

She finally said, “To watch the legacies of real people be condensed down to ‘this vaguely looks and sounds like them so that’s enough’, just so other people can churn out horrible TikTok slop puppeteering them is maddening. You’re not making art, you’re making disgusting, over-processed hotdogs out of the lives of human beings, out of the history of art and music, and then shoving them down someone else’s throat hoping they’ll give you a little thumbs up and like it. Gross.”

I think Zelda is right. Many of the celebrities have been gone for some time like Marilyn Monroe and Albert Einstein. There are still living relatives of many of the famous people in these videos. I wondered how they might feel about them. Zelda Williams cannot be the only one who feels this way about their deceased loved ones.

I admit, the first one I saw was an Elvis video. It was done to be humorous in that he says in one, “I can’t wait for AI to come along so I can stop acting in these dumb movies.” He says this while in a scene from his movie Spinout. I chuckled a bit when I saw it, because I had read somewhere that Elvis didn’t necessarily enjoy making all of his movies.

The more I thought about this, the more I wondered about the future. If these videos are close today, imagine how good they might be as the technology advances. We would be left questioning everything. How would we know that what we are watching is real? We can’t trust what we see on TV now, let alone if/when AI stuff starts being broadcast. This just scares me.

Remember that line from the X-Files? “The truth is out there.” The problem is going to be trying to figure out what is true and what isn’t!

Week in Review – We Need Two

After an almost 5 hour rain delay, my Tigers dropped game 3 of the ALDS. The Mariners beat them 8-4 yesterday. If they lose this afternoon, they are done. If they win, they still have to take game 5. I am still hopeful for them to advance to the ALCS. I doesn’t look good, though.

The stats are in Seattle’s favor. In all best-of-five postseason series tied 1-1, the Game 3 winner has advanced 47 out of 66 times (71.2%). Moreover, in Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, teams playing Game 4 on the road with a 2-1 lead have advanced 23 out of 34 times (67.7%), closing the series in Game 4 on 19 of those occasions.

On Saturday, my daughter was out on the soccer field again. I had a talk with her beforehand. I told her that if the coach wanted her out on the field, she couldn’t say “I need a break” and not play. That being said, she played a lot this week.

She was so proud of herself. She scored two goals this week. Of course, she was very generous in that one of those goals was for the other team.

I felt so bad for her. They had her in goalie during one period. When they scored on her, she dropped to her knees and cried. She felt so bad that she let the ball get by her. The coach had to kneel down next to her and tell her it was ok. After holding up the game for about 5 minutes, she was up again and playing.

I love that Andrew’s school posts pictures on their app. I will often ask what he did at school and he’ll say, “I don’t remember.” Having the occasional picture helps to see what they are working on.

They are working on the letter A this week. He came home and had to practice on the white board.

The A on the top right is what we drew as a guide. He’s getting it.

Last week was my first week back on midnights. I did better than I thought. I didn’t feel tired until the last couple hours of my last night. This is week 2 and I hope it goes as well as last week.

That’s all to report.

Go Tigers!

Tune Tuesday

The Nostalgic Italian would feel terrible if he did not honor the birthday of another Italian. So today, we wish Jasper Cini a Happy Heavenly Birthday. We know him as Al Martino. Al was born on this day in 1927.

Long before his days as a popular singer, he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was wounded when he took part in the Iwo Jima invasion. In 1949, he won Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts singing a Perry Como song. This is how he got his first recording contract.

Mario Lanza was a family friend of Al’s. Mario was having great success as a singer and Al took notice. Mario, who changed his name from Alfredo Cocozza, encouraged “Jasper” to change his name too. So Jasper became Al Martino.

In 1965 he recorded one of his biggest hits – Spanish Eyes. The song was originally called “Moon Over Naples” which was a song composed by Bert Kaempfert. The song was first recorded by Sergio Franchi and was a Neapolitan song and contained the original lyrics. However, a second set of lyrics were written

Martino said Kaempfert was interested in him recording the song, and sent him a copy of the instrumental version of “Moon Over Naples”, which Martino thought had the potential to be a hit. However, Martino did not like the lyrics of a vocal version he later heard, and told Kaempfert’s publisher so.

Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder, the original lyricists, were employed to rewrite the lyrics. Martino, satisfied with the new lyrics, contacted Bert to request that he come and help with the recording in New York because he liked the sound of Kaempfert’s recording. Martino recorded the song as “Spanish Eyes”, with Bert also playing on the record.

“Spanish Eyes” was released in the late 1965 in the United States, and it reached number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. It also spent four straight weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Easy Listening Chart.

Happy Birthday, Al!

The Monday Blues – Boom Boom

Another Monday is upon us and if you are feeling “blue” today, this song will having you tapping your feet. I first heard it in The Blues Brothers movie.

John Lee Hooker will forever be associated with the song “Boom Boom.” It became his signature song. Do a search on the internet for it and you will find that there are many versions of the song – all recorded by John Lee himself.

John said he wrote the song in the 50’s, but it wasn’t recorded until 1961. John’s telling of the story of the song’s origin can be found on Songfacts.com:

“I used to play at this place called the Apex Bar in Detroit. There was a young lady there named Luilla. She was a bartender there. I would come in there at night and I’d never be on time. Every night the band would beat me there. Sometimes they’d be on the bandstand playing by the time I got there. I’d always be late and whenever I’d come in she’d point at me and say, ‘Boom Boom, you’re late again.’ And she kept saying that. It dawned on me that that was a good name for a song. Then one night she said, ‘Boom boom, I’m gonna shoot you down.’ She gave me a song but she didn’t know it.

I took that thing and I hummed it all the way home from the bar. At night I went to bed and I was still thinking of it. I got up the next day and put one and one together, two and two together, trying to piece it out – taking things out, putting things in. I finally got it down right, got it together, got it down in my head. Then I went and sang it, and everybody went, Wow! Then I didn’t do it no more, not in the bar. I figured somebody would grab it before I got it copyrighted. So I sent it to Washington, D.C., the Library of Congress, and I got it copyrighted. After I got it copyrighted I could do it in the bar. So then if anybody got the idea to do it I had them by the neck, because I had it copyrighted. About two months later I recorded it. I was on Vee-Jay then. And the record shot straight to the top. Then, after I did it, the Animals turned around and did it. That barmaid felt pretty good. She went around telling everybody I got John Lee to write that song. I gave her some bread for it, too, so she was pretty happy.”

On the original recording, he had a great group of musicians with him. Members of Motown’s house band (known as The Funk Brothers) played on this. The Funk Brothers were outstanding musicians and played on hundreds of hit records, but Motown didn’t pay them very well, so they would take gigs at other labels in the Detroit area to make extra cash.

The song has many accolades. In 1995, “Boom Boom” was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of “The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.” It was also inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 2009 in the “Classics of Blues Recording” category. A Detroit Free Press poll in 2016 ranked the song at number 37 in “Detroit’s 100 Greatest Songs.”

Here are just a couple versions that John recorded. Version 1:

Version 2:

Version #3 – from the Blues Brothers

Book Recommendation – Shemp!

My dad introduced me to the Three Stooges at a very young age. Over the years I have read quite a few books about them. I read Moe’s autobiography, which was completed after his death by the family. I read Curly’s biography written by his niece. Larry wrote an “autobiography,” but there is controversy about who wrote a lot of it. Then Steve Cox put out the definitive Larry biography a few years back.

Each of those books were good reads for Stooge fans, but what about Shemp? Even the Joe’s got books. So where was the biography of the Stooge who was once named “The Ugliest Man in Hollywood?” Well, it has finally arrived.

Actually, two books have been published recently about him. Geoff Dale’s “Much More Than a Stooge: Shemp Howard” hit shelves just a few weeks before “Shemp!” By Burt Kearns. I just finished the latter, and it was eye-opening. Here is the Goodreads synopsis:

Shemp Howard not only had one of the most distinctive faces of the twentieth century. He was also one of the most influential comic actors of Old Hollywood. An original member of the Three Stooges, Shemp—along with his brother Moe and actor-violinist Larry Fine—perfected a brand of raucous, lowbrow, slapstick comedy that had audiences rolling in the aisles of vaudeville houses, Broadway theaters, and movie palaces, and left an indelible imprint on the face of popular entertainment. Then he walked away… and the new Three Stooges—Moe, Larry, and brother Curly—made history.

But Shemp didn’t disappear. He made Hollywood history on his own, in a successful and until now unexplored career in more than a hundred movie shorts and features. He appeared in comedies, dramas, mysteries, Westerns, and musicals alongside the biggest stars of the Golden Age, including W.C. Fields, John Wayne, James Stewart, William Powell, Lon Chaney, Jr., Myrna Loy, and Marlene Dietrich.

SHEMP! is the first book to challenge the “official” version of Three Stooges history that’s been repeated for decades, shattering myths as it uncovers the surprising and often unsettling facts behind the man’s unlikely how the child of Jewish immigrants, racked with severe anxiety and phobias could conquer vaudeville, Broadway, and Hollywood. And it’s more than a author Burt Kearns digs into the shorts and feature films Shemp did on his own—more than a hundred of them—and, through interviews with fans, family members, scholars, experts, filmmakers, and celebrities, examines the “cult of Shemp” that thrives today.

For years, Moe Howard’s biography was the “official” version of Stooges history. However, when it was written, Moe was in his mid 70’s and his memory may not recall things exactly or over exaggerate stories. That is where Kearn’s book is unique.

Kearns uses theater advertisements, programs, deeds, and other information to set the record straight on what has been passed down through history as truth. He takes on the role of private investigator and discovers many contradictions to the “official” story.

There were quite a few nuggets of info I had never heard before. For example, I had no idea that Moe’s wife Helen had a famous cousin in show business. That cousin was the great Harry Houdini!

Going into this book, I wondered if it was going to rehash the stories that Stooge fans had already heard. I have to say that there was plenty of new information to devour.

Kearns does a great job of letting the reader know exactly where you are on the Stooge timeline. He references what was going on with Moe, Larry and Curly while he was making an Abbott and Costello picture, etc… He also divulges the terms that were agreed upon when he was to “temporarily” step in for Curly while he was recovering from a stroke.

This is a must read for Stooge fans and a great read for someone who loves old comedy.

5 out of 5 stars!

Still Alive

My Detroit Tigers beat Cleveland IN Cleveland Thursday to advance to the American League Divisional Series. Today, they will take on the Seattle Mariners in game one of a 5 game series. The Mariners are a good team, and it is going to be a tough series.

In a conversation I had with my dad this week, he felt that if the Tigers went on to play the Mariners, they wouldn’t do well. I know that he was extremely disappointed with the way they played at the end of the season. That may be why he believes this. I, however, am thinking positive.

I am going to hope that their win over Cleveland will be motivation to play better baseball. I hope that it brings back the energy that they felt in the first half of the season. Just like we had a slump, the Mariners can still have one, right? It’s a game after all.

Yogi Berra is credited with saying, “It ain’t over, till it’s over.” The next 5 games are extremely important.

Go get ’em Tigers!

Friday Photo Flashback

A couple days ago, I posted about October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I explained that both my grandmother and mother passed away due to breast cancer. In the comments, my blogger friend, Dana (her blog is: https://regulargirldevos.com/) made a comment led to today’s photo.

Dana’s comment: Thank you for sharing this, Keith. I’m sorry about your mom and grandmother. I do enjoy reading about them when you share your pictures and memories.

This photo of my mom and my grandma (her mom) was taken in Florida. It was taken around 1989. My parents and I went with the high school band on their Florida trip. At the time, my grandmother had moved to Florida with my aunt. I’m not sure how close we were to where they lived, but she was able to meet up with us.

My buddy, Steve, also joined us on this trip. We were “chaperones” believe it or not. We had both graduated and we went off doing our own thing while we were there. I didn’t spend much time with the family on the trip. That, however, is just a small part of a lot of regret.

When my grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer, I was an unruly teen who was doing teen things. It seemed like my buddies and I always had something going on. So, I didn’t see much of my grandma. Naturally I had heard things about cancer, but I guess I thought if I didn’t think about it, it wouldn’t bother me. To a degree, that was true.

I rarely appeared at family functions because I wanted to hang with my friends instead. I don’t recall what the family function was, but my mother had taken pictures at it. When she got the photos back from the store (yes, kids, we often had to wait to see our pictures), she was going through them. There was a photo of my grandmother that shocked me.

She looked so thin and pale. I don’t even know how much chemotherapy she had been through at this time, but it obviously took a toll. She wore a terrycloth hat over her head, which was like a beret. She had lost most of her hair at that time. She was wearing what looked like a blue robe. In that photo, my grandma did not look like my grandma. That photo sealed the deal – I did not want to see my grandma that way. I didn’t see her until after she passed away.

When I think back to the time I could have spent with her, I kick myself. It was unfair to her. It was wrong of me. There were things that were not said that I would like to have shared with her. I missed way too much because I was in my own little world. It is one of my biggest regrets.

I will always remember her as she looked in the above photo.

One of the Best …

I am hoping to see the Detroit Tigers advance in the playoffs. My heart aches at the collapse of the team at the end of the season. To be up 15 games and not show up for the end of the season is just unbelievable.

Instead of thinking about that, I was reminded of a happy Detroit Tiger Memory. Darrell Evans played a huge part on the 1984 team that would go on to win the World Series. He would often play first base, and occasionally he would be in the DH spot.

In 1973, he hit 41 home runs for the Atlanta Braves. At 38 years old, in 1985 Evans led the MLB in home runs with 40. As a matter of fact, it was on this day in 1985 that he hit his 40th home run. By doing so, he became the first in MLB history to have a 40-homer season in both the American and the National Leagues.

Baseball historian Bill James called Evans “the most underrated player in baseball history.” I would agree. He was the 22nd player in MLB history to hit 400 home runs and the second to hit at least 100 home runs with three different teams. His 1,605 walks ranked eighth in MLB history at the time of his retirement, and he drew 90 or more walks in eight separate seasons (reaching 100+ walks five times).

Perhaps featuring a World Series champ today will bring the Tigers luck? One can hope

Welcome October

How is it October already? I swear, I feel like it was just the beginning of summer. October is a month that I love and hate at the same time.

I love October because the fall colors really show. It is high school football games and bonfires. It is trips to the cider mill and Halloween. It is post-season baseball and sweatshirt weather.

My mother and my grandmother both passed away from breast cancer in October, so I hate it for that. I do believe that it is ironic that they passed in October, though. If you were not aware, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Every year I was in radio, I always made sure that I was involved in a Breast Cancer event. It may have been a motorcycle club doing a ride for breast cancer or a classic car show. Sometimes it was at a clinic or hospital where free mammograms were being done.

From breastcancer.org:

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed among women in the U.S. Each year, about 32% of all newly diagnosed cancers in women are breast cancer.
In 2025, approximately 316,950 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, with 59,080 new cases of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), which is non-invasive.
About 16% of women with breast cancer are younger than 50 years of age.
About 66% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed at a localized stage — before cancer has spread outside of the breast — when treatments tend to work better.
There are currently more than four million women with a history of breast cancer in the U.S. This includes women currently being treated and women who have finished treatment.
About 42,170 women will die from breast cancer in 2025.
Less than 1% of all breast cancers occur in men.
Approximately 1 in 8 women (13%) in the U.S. will develop invasive breast cancer at some point in their life.

Early detection is so important. If you are a woman, I encourage you to get your yearly mammogram. Please don’t wait.

Tune Tuesday

It was on this day in 1987 that Roy Orbison got some friends together and recorded A Black and White Night. It would air on Cinemax in January of 1988.

The performance was recorded at the Ambassador Hotel’s Coconut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles California. It would include many of Roy’s early hits and, as the title suggests, it was filmed entirely in black and white.

Appearing with Roy or Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, JD Souther, Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Warnes, and kd Lang. The performance was almost lost.

The following day in Los Angeles an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale hit the Los Angeles area. The earthquake caused some of the chandeliers to fall on the master video that recorded the entire evening. Thankfully, after they went in to clear the debris, they found that no damage had been done to the recording. It remains one of the last, if not the last, of Roy’s performances as he passed away about 14 months later.

One of the things I love to see in this performance, is the respect and awe that the other performers felt. You can see that especially When Roy performs Ooby-Dooby. Bruce Springsteen for example not only looks like he’s having fun, but he almost can’t believe he’s performing with Roy Orbison.