FIVEDAYS 003:Culture, Corpses & Control
Teaching fatigue, killer photos, and AI’s weird new temptations.
Another week, another day, another dollar, 50 cents after tax.
Been wrapping up the school year, and this specific teacher exhaustion has settled in—the kind that doesn’t vanish after a good night’s sleep because it isn’t just physical, it’s mental mileage. People don’t realize teaching is a nonstop decision factory: you’re constantly choosing what to explain, how to explain it, who needs help, who’s quietly falling apart, who’s about to start a problem, and how to keep the whole room moving without losing the thread. It’s classroom management, counseling, tech support, referee work, and improv comedy—sometimes all in the same minute. By the time the final weeks hit, your brain has been running hot for months, and it needs to cool down. Not “do nothing” cool down—just the rare luxury of doing ONE thing without being interrupted, evaluated, or pulled in ten directions. Sitting. Drawing. Reading. Breathing. Teaching ain’t for everybody, and honestly? That’s not a flaw—it’s a truth.
1.
FUCKING COOL
This Colossal piece is a straight shot of visual electricity: photography as a weapon, a witness, and a love letter during the Black Arts Movement. It pulls you into the era through images that feel alive—street heat, studio swagger, activism, performance, and everyday Black life framed with intention. The article spotlights the upcoming exhibition “Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985,” featuring work by 100+ photographers spanning editorial, commercial, self-portraiture, and mixed-media critique. Come for the history, stay for the jaw-dropping photos that prove culture doesn’t whisper—it documents itself.
2
FILE UNDER BEATING A DEAD HORSE:
Major Spoilers dropped a weird little sign-of-the-times piece this week: ElevenLabs partnered with Stan Lee Universe to license Stan’s voice likeness for commercial use—with approvals, licensing review, and content oversight (so it’s not total chaos). It’s the classic modern move: dig up the dead, wire them to a battery, and make them dance—maybe not for a vacuum commercial yet, but the pipeline is clearly built. And yeah, it feels gross on principle.
But here’s the uncomfortable punchline: if Stan were still around, there’s a decent chance he’d have at least considered it. The guy spent decades turning Marvel into a licensing hydra—TV, film, toys, games, “anything with a licensing agreement attached to it,” as the post puts it. He could be brilliant, he could be a shill, he could be both in the same sentence—and we still love him anyway, because comics are messy and so are their saints.
So sure, this is unsettling. Also? It’s painfully on-brand for the era: nostalgia, monetized, infinitely scalable.
And now, in my completely fictional, absolutely-not-real Stan voice parody:
“Excelsior! …FWACATA is the best comics ever!”
3
MORE AI SHIT?
Bleeding Cool covered the backlash around Jorge R. Gutiérrez getting involved with Amazon’s GenAI Creators’ Fund project—specifically that his new series “Punky Duck” is tied to Amazon’s AI animation push. People freaked out (understandably), because the fear is always the same: “cool, so the tech eats the artists.”
But Jorge’s response is basically: I’m treating this like an experiment, and I’m going to be “as cautious as possible,” with the goal of artists driving the tech—not the other way around. And honestly? That’s the only way any of this is survivable: if creators get inside the kitchen and control the knives instead of getting chopped up by them.
Look, the big picture is messy. But if Jorge is stepping into this with leverage, visibility, and a spine, I’m not rushing to throw tomatoes. I’m thinking: WTF, let the man cook. Because an artist with taste, standards, and clout can become an “inside man” who pushes the industry toward workflows that don’t erase humans.
4
OH FUCK IS THIS A BLOG POST ABOUT AI NOW
Boing Boing frames it as a heel turn: Kojima + Nicolas Winding Refn + Prada, and the result is an AI-generated sci-fi short that looks like retro astronauts wandered into a luxury-brand fever dream. (Boing Boing) The internet’s first reaction is the usual: “AI slop,” “sellout,” “why is this even Prada,” etc. Fair. Also: missing the real temptation.
The most seductive part of AI isn’t “make a picture.” It’s ownership of the means of production—the ability to chase a vision with no committee, no gatekeepers, no waiting on crews, no ‘we’ll get back to you,’ and (almost) no time. For a random clown off the street, that freedom still produces the same beige garbage. But for an actual auteur? That’s where it gets dangerous—because now the only limit is taste, ethics, and whether you can wield the thing without letting it wield you.
This is where the Conan line comes in: What is the riddle is steel? Steel is only as strong as the hands the wields it. The tool is neutral. The wielder decides if it becomes sorcery… or just a loud, expensive fart in space. (Boing Boing)
5
SUMMER IS COMING
Doesn’t have the same tone as Game of Thrones, right? Actually have a lot planned, with some travel in between. I am going to be LIVESTREAMING at the time in a couple of places but mostly WHATNOT, INSTAGRAM, and here on SUBSTACK! This is to drum up some viewers and, hopefully, some funds over the summer to keep things going. To say the job market is CACA is an understatement, and I also hate the amount of ageism that happens. It’s like a real thing: if you’re a 48-year-old man applying to Costco or Lowes, they look at you like a total fucking liability. SIGH. But I am excited to get back to drawing live and get a lot of work done over the Summer before leaving for SPAIN! Whoooo!
STAY TUNED
Other than that, it’s end-of-school-year crunch time—wrapping up the chaos, checking boxes, and trying to finish the stuff I swore I’d “totally do earlier.” Meanwhile, back home in Miami, my friends are sending off my brother John Ulloa tonight, and I can’t be there because airfare is now priced like you’re buying a small aircraft, and my job’s hitting the end-of-year wall at the exact worst time. So yeah… c’est la vie. Still hurts. Still feels stupid. Still real.
But here’s the thing: life doesn’t pause because we’re sad. It reloads. It spawns the next wave. It’s like the universe is a bored game designer going, “Oh, you were grieving? Cool, here’s a new boss fight. No checkpoint.”
So we buckle down. Not because we’re invincible—because we’re alive. The day you stop struggling is the day you’re in a pine box, so until then? We keep moving. And when life hands you lemons, you don’t make lemonade—you return fire. You trade small-arms chaos with the universe until it cries, shits its pants, and realizes you’re still here and you’re just getting warmed up.
Be good.