Point of Exquisite Suspension

Thoughts & life experiences of a Chicago area graphic artist

15 April 2026

AI Movie Clips - Shoot Me Now.

 

Still from the punk rocker's scene below.

Here are AI generated movie clip results based on prompts I designed. Their errors make me cringe but also make me laugh. I can't help but replay them a few times when I watch review them.

Below each clip I have included the prompt I used with the Fotor AI video generator.


Prompt: photo-realistic and cinematographic scene starting from this exact image: two young men with tattoos in their 20s wearing punk style clothes and casually sitting on chairs in a makeshift club lounge among other customers in the background. The man on the left (spiky purple hair in a yellow, torn, sleeveless t-shirt) speaks with a British accent: "We still need a bloody drummer for our gig coming up on Saturday". The man on the right (dark hair in mohawk style wearing a leather jacket) responds with a sarcastic yet amusing American accent: "I think I know a guy we can call. Worst case scenario I think I can handle a tambourine." Next to the men on a nearby table is a two or three empty beer cans. Camera: static medium shot maintaining the original composition. Lit empty stage in the background, cool color palette, subtle movements of fellow customers also in the background. (Kling 3.0, 720dpi)



Prompt: photo-realistic and cinematographic scene starting from this exact image: two young men with stylish short hair in their 20s pop-art t-shirts and casually sitting on chairs in a makeshift school cafeteria lunch room among other students in the background. The one on the left (blond hair, wearing glasses) speaks with a Chicago accent: "Are you still on for the big bash at Scotty's house this Saturday? His parents will be out of town". The one on the right (dark hair, earring on one ear and wearing a hoodie over his t-shirt) responds with a sarcastic yet amusing American accent: "Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss it for anything. Except, I'll need to bring my grandmother who I promised I'd hang out with her that night." Next to the men on a nearby table is a two or three empty beer cans. Camera: static medium shot maintaining the original composition. Lit empty stage in the background, cool color palette, subtle movements of fellow customers also in the background. (Kling 3.0 Omni,  720dpi)


Notice I used the same prompt for each like a template only changing detail descriptions. So far I'm a bit lazy in creating prompts but it's fun to get a feel for the way the AI works with what I tell it.

Also notice in the prompt I did not ask for a laugh track. And note the mispronunciation of “ tambourine” in the first video and the name ”Scotty” in the second.

The third video I add is actually my first Fotor made attempt as I modified a prompt from a cartoon-style video by a Fotor Community member changing the characters to be talking pencils and the dialog to be about their respective owners. I can't remember what the original prompt/video featured.


Prompt: A whimsical Pixar-style animated scene starting from this exact image: two anthropomorphic pencils with expressive faces painted on their pink erasers, poised upright with writing lead point down on a spiral bound sketch pad in a sunlit studio room. The left pencil (worn eraser and yellow shaft with chipped paint and teeth marks) has a sad, worried face with large eyes. The pencil's painted face speaks with a wobbly, raspy voice: "My owner likes to chew things." The face remains on the pencil throughout. The right Pencil (bright yellow and smooth) has a smug, confident smile with sparkling eyes and contains a vibrant, unused eraser. The pencil's painted face responds cheerfully with a boastful tone: "My owner is pretty chill and keeps me in a cool pencil case." The face stays on the eraser surface, never moving to pencil shaft. Camera: static medium shot maintaining the original composition. The faces are permanently part of the pot designs and animate expressively (blinking, mouth movements) but never detach or transform. Soft golden afternoon sunlight, warm color palette, subtle movements on the healthy pencil, comedic timing with a sidelong glance from the healthy pencil to the chewed one. Disney Pixar animation quality with the pencils as the main characters, not the sketchbook. (VEO 3.1 Fast 720dpi)

More samples to come.

12 April 2026

Stacky --The Human Stack of Pancakes!


Stacky's Sticky Origin
Story by Mark Peters, Art by O. Douglas Jennings






 





Bonus Comic: Stacky Meets Batman!
Click image to Enlarge

Bonus Comic: Stacky To The Rescue!

Click image to Enlarge




Stacky Creator Bios
Mark Peters (@wordlust, @cnnyourmom) is an author, namer, humorist, juggler, comic book writer & journalist, language columnist, beer geek, dog person, and Jack Kirby evangelist. He writes about Kirby for Comicosity and euphemisms for Visual Thesaurus. He’s also an expert on BS. O. Douglas Jennings (@odouglasj, @dragoncampbook) is a graphic artist and art instructor, amateur art historian, drawer of at-risk teen dragons, creator of Tigrikorn (cartooning class mascot) and non-pet-owning grandfather of fur baby Phoenix the Cat.

Copyright and TM 2019 by Mark Peters and O. Douglas Jennings

25 March 2026

First Lady Introduces Figure 3

 


Interlude--Meanwhile... somewhere in suburbia:



With the help of ChatGPT and Adobe Photoshop, I imagined the near future based on Figure 3's performance:




 

My Siblings' Current River Raft Trips

Photo re-imagining of the Raft Trip with help of Fotor AI & Photoshop.

Two Floating Sheets of Plywood

During the summer of 1971, we took two ambitious 26-mile trips down the Current River in Missouri. For the second trip, we upgraded our fleet to two custom-built rafts.

Our crew consisted of eight people, split four to a raft. The group included Chris M., Pat M., Frank S., my sister Alicia J., and me (Bryan J.), along with a few other friends.

From the Ground to the Riverbed

For the second trip, we used the same design for our rafts as Frank S. and friends had used for the final exam of their design project. We needed two rafts, so we hauled the materials  (2x4s, plywood, and inner tubes) to the Current River and assembled the rafts on the bank of the river. One raft was 8x10, the other was 8x8.

The journey spanned 26 miles from Powder Mill to Van Buren.

This was actually the second time that summer that Chris, Rhonda, Frank, and I had tackled this stretch. The first was in May with Frank Steinmarch’s Southern Illinois University (SIU) design class. On that first trip, we only had one raft, which we had built in our side yard in Energy. We transported it to Missouri on the roof of my mom's car—an executive decision that left a permanent dent in her roof. For the trip with Alicia, we learned our lesson and transported the raw materials to Missouri, assembling the rafts right at the river landing.

The Three-Day Trek

The trip lasted three days. Much like the May excursion, we lived off the river, sleeping in cow pastures along the banks or right on the rafts themselves.

We brought plenty of supplies since it was a 3-day trip. We had long poles to steer the rafts with, but one was lost along the way. Since we were on a river, the raft was always in motion, flowing along with the river, but we frequently had to steer around snags, fallen trees, etc. Also, under the river were many branches and so forth that ended up puncturing some of the inner tubes along the way

The journey wasn't without its excitement. At one point, we hit a squall. The rain came down suddenly and we were swept into an eddy. I had to use every bit of muscle I had to row and push against the riverbed using a long, handmade paddle to reach the shore. Once we made landfall, everyone scrambled for shelter beside a large log to escape the downpour.

The Raincoat and the Cowboy Hat

I was the only person wise enough—or lucky enough—to have brought a raincoat. However, Pat Marlow was wearing a straw cowboy hat. As he crouched down to hide from the rain, I reached over, plopped his hat onto my head for extra protection, and kept right on pushing with the paddle.

By the third day, the smaller raft had too many punctured inner tubes and we no longer could be on that raft. We tied it to the larger raft and only used it to keep our supplies on. At one point, we waited too long to steer around a large snag and we crashed right into the snag, breaking the rope and sending the smaller raft away from the larger left. We were able to get it back, but it was a bit of a shock when it happened.

Alicia recalls that we were floating down the river, she spent a lot of time just sitting on the edge of the raft with her feet in the water, feeling like Huckleberry Finn floating down the Mississippi.

About halfway through the third day we ran out of food and drink. When we reached the spot where we had left the car, we saw some fishermen on the bank who had a case of beer. We traded them both rafts for their case of beer, and finally our thirst was quenched.

Despite the squalls and the physical toll of rowing a plywood square, it was an incredible time. It was the kind of pure, unbothered fun you can only truly have when you're 19 years old. The experience even inspired my mom to take the whole family back to the river at Big Spring the following summer for a much calmer, one-day canoe trip.

Link to Map of the Current River in Missouri

True Story by Bryan Jennings and his sister Alicia Jennings Tippins

15 February 2026

“Star Chosen” Sci-Fi Novel Review

 

Star Chosen: A Science Fiction Space Opera for the Whole FamilyStar Chosen: A Science Fiction Space Opera for the Whole Family by Joe Chiappetta
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ambitious, heartfelt, and worth the journey.
I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook of Star Chosen by Joe Chiapetta, and I appreciated it enough to purchase the print edition to experience the fun illustrations as well. The novel combines imaginative future technology with thoughtful spiritual reflection, grounded in characters who feel authentic and relatable.

The spiritual themes resonated with me personally. While the story occasionally leans into a more overtly didactic tone, the message feels sincere rather than heavy-handed. At moments, it brought to mind Robert Heinlein in its glimpses of evolving society, and a key plot turn evoked echoes of Perelandra by C. S. Lewis.

An ambitious and heartfelt work. Not flawless, but deeply worthwhile and sincerely imagined.

View all my reviews

Quick Video View of Printed Version:



30 January 2026

Into the West

This song voiced by Annie Lennox and accompanied with footage from The Lord of the Rings film is a powerful and poignant expression of love for loved ones who have passed on. It fills my heart.


29 January 2026

Streets of Minneapolis by Bruce Springsteen Video




BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

"STREETS OF MINNEAPOLIS"

LYRICS


THROUGH THE WINTER'S ICE AND COLD

DOWN NICOLLET AVENUE

A CITY AFLAME FOUGHT FIRE AND ICE

'NEATH AN OCCUPIER'S BOOTS

KING TRUMP'S PRIVATE ARMY FROM THE DHS

GUNS BELTED TO THEIR COATS

CAME TO MINNEAPOLIS TO ENFORCE THE LAW

OR SO THEIR STORY GOES

AGAINST SMOKE AND RUBBER BULLETS

BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT CITIZENS STOOD FOR JUSTICE

THEIR VOICES RINGING THROUGH THE NIGHT AND THERE WERE BLOODY FOOTPRINTS

WHERE MERCY SHOULD HAVE STOOD

AND TWO DEAD LEFT TO DIE ON SNOW-FILLED STREETS

ALEX PRETTI AND RENEE GOOD


OH OUR MINNEAPOLIS, I HEAR YOUR VOICE SINGING THROUGH THE BLOODY MIST WE'LL TAKE OUR STAND FOR THIS LAND AND THE STRANGER IN OUR MIDST

HERE IN OUR HOME THEY KILLED AND ROAMED

IN THE WINTER OF '26

WE'LL REMEMBER THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO DIED

ON THE STREETS OF MINNEAPOLIS


TRUMP'S FEDERAL THUGS BEAT UP ON

HIS FACE AND HIS CHEST

THEN WE HEARD THE GUNSHOTS

AND ALEX PRETTI LAY IN THE SNOW, DEAD THEIR CLAIM WAS SELF DEFENSE, SIR JUST DON'T BELIEVE YOUR EYES IT'S OUR BLOOD AND BONES

AND THESE WHISTLES AND PHONES

AGAINST MILLER AND NOEM'S DIRTY LIES


NOW THEY SAY THEY'RE HERE TO UPHOLD THE LAW

BUT THEY TRAMPLE ON OUR RIGHTS

IF YOUR SKIN IS BLACK OR BROWN MY FRIEND YOU CAN BE QUESTIONED OR DEPORTED ON SIGHT


IN CHANTS OF ICE OUT NOW

OUR CITY'S HEART AND SOUL PERSISTS

THROUGH BROKEN GLASS AND BLOODY TEARS

ON THE STREETS OF MINNEAPOLIS







29 December 2025

My Personalized Year Review with ChatGPT 2025


Throughout 2025, I regularly consulted and collaborated with 
ChatGPT. Capped off with a poem, here is the app's review of my year with its service:

3 Themes

Chat Stats

Chat Style

Fortune 🔮

Prediction

Still Life

Archetype


Year in Poem