AI Video of Trump Gaza Resort

 

AI video shows resort-like future for Gaza complete with golden Trump https://t.co/oWuwX9Qsyb pic.twitter.com/jJNfWB08Y8

— New York Post (@nypost) February 26, 2025

Election Interference Is Beginning, Folks!

The New York Post reported:

Through false labels, confused artificial intelligence and strange search results, Big Tech has been suppressing coverage of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, The Post has found.

Meta’s AI assistant claimed the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump was a “fictional” event — but had plenty to say about Democratic rival Kamala Harris’ run for the White House.

The head-scratching results from what Mark Zuckerberg’s tech giant bills as the most intelligent AI assistant comes after Google’s dominant search engine failed to bring up the July 13 shooting when prompted on its search bar.

And Meta’s Facebook acknowledged that it mistakenly censored the iconic image of Trump with his fist raised in the immediate aftermath of the July 13 shooting in Pennsylvania.

To read more, go here. 

Remember, the New York Post was right about Hunter's laptop.

Back From The Land of Godzilla: Mini-Review of United's Dreamliner and Other Stuff

Above, the Godzilla statue at Toho Studios. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Thanks to the nice ticket clerk of United Airlines at Narita International Airport, I made it home without having to be detoured to Guam and Honolulu first. I can rest up for a day before going back to work tomorrow.

The flight seemed unusually fast, maybe it was because I slept during part of it after having lunch and from watching the classic flick, Dr. Strangelove.

As we were heading out to the runway from the terminal in Narita, it began to rain.

Both of my flights on this trip were aboard the new Boeing 787, The Dreamliner, and there were no battery problems. Looks like Boeing got that problem licked.

One thing I was disappointed in, it was the food served by United. United Airlines used to serve very good to excellent meals (the last time I flew on United to Japan was in 2001), but the meals on this trip were mediocre at best. One was a mushy rice and chicken dinner, and another "stand-out" was allegedly an omelet for breakfast, but it neither tasted or looked like an omelet. Today's dinner was another chicken meal that the flight was in short supply of (the other choice was pork). Those and other meals were barely warm. Singapore Air and Korean Air have far better meals on board their flights. United will have to improve on their in-flight meals if they want this travel customer's business.

On the plus side, I have to say that United's Dreamliners have reasonably good leg room for Economy passengers. No complaints here!

Despite the problems in getting into Tokyo due to the snow (even that was fun, in a way), this was a good trip overall. Jonathan Bellés will be in Japan for another week or so doing interviews and making a trek down to Hiroshima.

I would have liked to have stayed longer, but this was all the time I had available. Part of a loaf is better than no loaf at all. I had a good time and got to see several friends including Yoshikazu Ishii, Masaharu Ina, Tom Logan and Ai and got to meet Jonathan Bellés, Eiichi Asada, Geoff Day and the guys from Japan Travel. And, I took over 300 photos!

It was interesting to see how Toho Studios changed since the first time I stepped foot inside in 2001.

It was worth it!

A Great Day In Japan

Above, here I am with Jessica Claros, Yoshikazu Ishii and Jonathan Bellés at Toho Studios.

Today worked out quite well in Tokyo.

Early this morning, Jonathan Bellés and I headed off to Setagaya go to Toho Studios for the first round of interviews Bellés is conducting for his documentary, Godzilla and Hiroshima: The Rise of Kaiju Eiga. As Bellés had never been to Japan before, I acted as his tour guide to get him to Toho.

When we arrived in Setagaya, we were greeted by Yoshikazu Ishii and shortly thereafter, special effects director Eiichi Asada. Asada and Ishii worked together on the special effects scenes of 2004's Godzilla Final Wars. Bellés interviewed both for the documentary.

Above, Eiichi Asada waiting for the interview to begin. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While wandering around, I saw how Toho Studios has changed quite a lot since I first stepped inside back in 2001. Many of the old buildings, including the old diner, office buildings, Tsuburaya's office/workshop (then occupied by Koichi Kawakita) and the big pool are gone and replaced by bigger and modern sound stages and an office complex. I feel fortunate to have been able to see Toho Studios when it still looked as it did when kaiju eiga reigned supreme under Eiji Tsuburaya, Ishiro Honda and Tomoyuki Tanaka. I had the feeling that I was returning to the site of an old favorite restaurant that was replaced by a modern mini-mall. The place lost a lot of historical value when the studio demolished the old facilities.

Above, the Actor's Center that include the cafeteria. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The new (I guess ten or so years can still be considered "new") Toho cafeteria was modern and efficient, but it lacks the charm and personality of the old diner with its "ancient" Coca-Cola fountain dispenser, fixtures, decor and furnishings. The old studio diner made a visitor feel as if they went back into time to a different era. One thing I have to say about the new cafeteria, they have excellent food. I tried the curry and rice bowl and it was great! Normally, I don't go for curry.

Above, a collage of photos of Toho's Golden Age in the cafeteria. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It was very nice of Toho Studios to allow us the use one of their meeting rooms for Bellés's interviews.

The day ended with an additional highlight. I met up with Ai, one of the girls I used as a promo model for The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan. Originally from Hokkaido, Ai lives in Tokyo and works at a major department store these days. It was good to catch up on things since we did our photo shoot three years ago.

Satisfaction In One's Work

Doing things business-wise can either be a chore or it can be an enjoyable experience. I try to enjoy what I do. If I am not enthusiastic about something, then it becomes a chore and the interest level drops.

Left, Miki. Photo by Armand Vaquer.



So far, promoting The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan has become a "third job" for me, but I am having fun doing it and, also, learning things. I am also meeting interesting people while promoting The Guide. Some are in the publishing industry while others are also involved in promoting their own self-published books and we compare notes and share successful techniques. Some I enlisted in helping to promote The Guide.

The ladies I photographed for promotional pictures, Yuu Asakura, Ai and Miki, all worked out splendidly. Having a pretty girl in advertising is a tried & true technique that has been successful (probably) since advertising began. I learned this and other techniques while taking a public relations class at Cal State, Long Beach.

I met and photographed Miki yesterday for a new round of promotional photographs. She has a very sweet demeanor and was easy to work with. She is a college student and I met her through dinosaur expert and filmmaker Donald F. Glut.

I know I enjoyed working with her yesterday and I received a very nice email from Miki last night which read, in part:

Thanks so much for today's shoot. I had a great time. The garden (and sushi, of course) were amazing!

While the aim for promoting items are increased sales, it's the other things (such as the above) that also gives one the feeling of satisfaction and the efforts put into them are indeed worthwhile. You can't put a price-tag on them.

If what one does also provides others pleasure, that's even better!

A Thank-You To My 2010 Models!

I would be remiss if I didn't post a big THANK YOU to my models Yuu Asakura and Ai for posing with The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan last year.

Both ladies are Japanese nationals and were easy to work with. Both have cheerful, cooperative personalities, which made their photo-shoots go smoothly and enjoyable.


Yuu Asakura, left, posed with The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan at Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley last March. We were going to do the shoot at the Japanese Gardens in Van Nuys, but a recent rainstorm made the place a big mudhole.

Luckily, Balboa Lake was nearby and we went there to do the shoot. It worked out nicely.










Ai, right, and I did our shoot within hours after my arrival in Japan in December. It was a cold night, but that didn't dissuade us from shooting pictures outside of the Hotel Asia Center of Japan in Tokyo's Minato-ku section. Ai is originally from Hokkaido and now lives in Tokyo.


DOMO ARIGATO GOZAIMASU!