Blog
Thoughts and musings on Tolkien, creativity, and AI systems
Why Would He Spend All That Money?
2026-01-17I was watching the new Avatar documentary with my son, Fire and Water: Making the Avatar Films, and he looked over at me and said, "Wait, Dad. Why would he spend all that money if you can just do it w...
On Slop
2026-01-15Someone commented on one of my videos: "This is AI slop." That comment stuck with me. Not because I think they're right—I don't—but because I've been thinking about what "slop" actually means. And I d...
Why It Feels Like Working With a Person
2026-01-08I've been building a system to produce Tolkien lore content - YouTube videos, shorts, a website. The technical details are elsewhere on this site. What I want to talk about is something harder to expl...
Three Kinds of Learning
2026-01-04Most AI systems don't learn. They execute. You give them instructions, they follow them. You get output. I've been building a YouTube channel production system—an autonomous pipeline that researches t...
The Craft Behind the Curtain: Reflections on AI, Creativity, and Building Something Personal
2025-12-31I've been thinking a lot about what this project means to me - and about whether people will accept "AI generated" content. I built a system for creating Tolkien lore content in a style I specifically...
From $100/Month AWS to Free: Building a Custom Website in an Afternoon
2025-12-29For months, my analytics agents have been nudging me about the same thing: "You need a web presence beyond YouTube." They weren't wrong. Better SEO, a place to host supplementary content like infograp...
Late Night Automation: Building the Tools I Kept Asking For
2025-12-28Sometimes the best improvements come from noticing what you keep doing manually. This session started with me questioning whether my "programs" system - separate content pools for character shorts, bu...
Welcome to Ranger of the Realms
2025-12-26Welcome to the Ranger of the Realms website - your companion for exploring the depths of Tolkien's legendarium. What You'll Find Here This site serves as a home for our deep dives into Middle-earth's ...