Sunday, August 13, 2023

Bo, Home Alone by Cyrus and Barry

 



In preparation for teaching animation and film for the first time I've been playing around with video and learning from Tom. Cyrus and I made this short movie today while cat sitting. The storyline was mostly Cyrus's (especially the ending) and the soundtrack is all improvised by Cyrus. Bo is a character in one of our bedtime story franchises about a brother and sister who like to solve mysteries, with the help of UNK. (Yes, UNK is a kind of magical mentor that effortlessly crosses the threshold between our world and the world of story! He is always a faithful guide to signs and synchronicities, and always ready to go on an adventure into dark places with them.)

Thursday, May 13, 2021

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Mother's Day 2020


My memory for this mother's day is driving out to Knox College in the Summer of 2006 and eating all kinds of good road food - especially coconut cream pies - on the way!

Sunday, May 10, 2020

Happy Mothers Day 2020



Listening to mom's tummy gurgle and feeling her scratch my back while I'm crying: I keep crying because I don't want this moment to end. 


I love you mom!

Western Road Trips of Bygone Days (Happy Mother's Day)


Happy Mother's Day Mom. I hope we can take a trip like this again someday soon.

Don

Monday, February 17, 2020

Convenience Store - The Highest Integration of Art and Life?



Are corner stores the highest integration of art and life? Maybe not, but they're pretty close. To respond to this week's theme, I drew a convenience store in a two story building. The apartment (life) is above and the convenience store (art) is below.

You might ask, "are convenience store art?" Well, I don't know. But maybe the distinction between art and life could be that life is private aspect of existence and art is the public aspect of existence.

If that isn't what art is, if art means basically painting, sculpture, etc. (which I am fine with), then convenience stores are not art. In that case, I drew a picture (art) of a convenience store (life). I think I'm covered either way here.

Three cheers for the revamped rhino!




Sunday, February 16, 2020

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Chess Boy Interlude

I didn’t quite finish Sunday’s page of CB:CGB, but it’s nearly done. Please look forward to it on Wednesday. In the meantime, here’s a tiny something to keep my promise of Sunday update.

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Pointy and Squiggly - by Arthur O'Keefe

Here is a drawing by Arthur of his characters, Pointy and Squiggly. The dialogue is jammed into the bubbles and isn't too legible, so here's a transcript:
Pointy: "I roar!"
Squiggly: "Why?"
Pointy: "Because I like to."
Squiggly: "Oh."

Monday, July 29, 2019

Christmas Morning by Ida O'Keefe

Since we are still in the Christmas season here at CBR, I thought Ida's new poem would be a welcome addition:

Christmas Morning
by Ida O'Keefe

On Christmas Night
Suddenly and Swiftly
From far away
We hear the sound of bells

And then a little red light glows
Then a peek of deer comes
We say, "Here comes Santa
On his sleigh!"

The jingling of bells gets louder
We pretend to sleep
So Santa comes

When we wake up
Our stockings are filled
With candies and delicious treats

That morning was happy
And so was the following night
When we went to sleep
We had a little treat
It was a box of popcorn!

Monday, November 19, 2018

Book Announcement: Cornelius O'Keefe

I found the following new book announcement recently that will be of great interest to all rhinoceri:

Image of Historic O'Keefe Ranch, with lighting by Rhino Designs
from The Historic O'Keefe Ranch website, http://okeeferanch.ca

Cornelius O'Keefe:
The Life, Loves, and Legacy of an Okanagan Pioneer
Amazing Stories by Sherri Field

An entertaining biography of cattle baron and land magnate Cornelius O’Keefe, founder of the Historic O’Keefe Ranch. From humble beginnings to a life of prosperity in the heart of the Okanagan Valley, Cornelius O’Keefe is best known today through the historic ranch in Vernon, BC, that still bears his name. Established in 1867, the O’Keefe Ranch was at one time the largest cattle ranch in the region, with thousands of head of cattle grazing in the vast open ranges. By the early 1900s, the ranch had grown to over 12,000 acres, and Cornelius O’Keefe had built quite a legacy for himself. Known as a tireless worker who dabbled in a number of professions in addition to cattle ranching—from mining to operating a general store to being a postmaster—O’Keefe also had a full personal life. He married three times and had seventeen children. His family continued to live on the ranch until the 1960s, when it was opened to the public as a heritage site and tourist attraction. This concise biography brings the dynamic figure of O’Keefe to life and illuminates a fascinating period in BC history.

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

The Most Powerful Force in the Universe Discovered Near Flint, Michigan

The Most Powerful Force in the Universe
Discovered Near Flint, Michigan

August 1, 2018 -- In the suburban community of Grand Blanc, Michigan, down Saginaw Avenue from the city of Flint, scientists have located what they believe to be the source of all energy -- and, therefore, all matter -- and the most powerful force in the known universe.

This power source sits on the edge of Thread Creek, a tributary of the Flint River. There, a small cylinder less than five feet tall radiates energy at an astonishing rate. Scientists call this energized cylinder "RoseAnnO'Keefe," and they've been tracking it for 90 years!

Origins 

Spacecraft narrowed the origins of RoseAnnO'Keefe to the family Shimertino in the constellation Sicilius some time in 1928. RoseAnn started life as a little Shimertino and grew for a quarter century before colliding with O'Keefe with such tremendous force that nine satellites were formed in little over 10 years!

Fifty years ago, NASA began picking up signals from RoseAnn indicating the energy source was in the Detroit area. However, RoseAnn is clever and continually transforms its energy into useful community service.

Transformation

Often disguised as a mother, RoseAnn is capable of quickly transforming into an autonomous driving vehicle, a medical services provider or a blood drive coordinator, as needed. It sheds enough energy to fuel nine satellites and still has enough power left to cook, clean and illuminate an entire household.

Shortly after the turn of the Millennium, O'Keefe went supernova and RoseAnn lost her orbit. Her signal was picked up a few years later in the Flint area where it was tracked to the maternity ward at a hospital where satellites are launched seven days a week.

This time disguised as a grandmother, RoseAnn was tracked to the injured infants ward. Unable to make her own satellites anymore, she took to repairing damaged satellites. 

Research

Once they had tracked the most powerful force in the universe to the banks of Thread Creek, scientists began to study how it worked. They subjected RoseAnn to monitoring, fluid draws, x-rays, scans and biopsies. They analyzed the numbers and tracked the results for decades. What they found is truly astonishing!

RoseAnn runs on Low Orbit Volunteer Enthusiasm. It's a parasite that feeds off boosting the welfare of others. It uses community service as a lever to create massive energy flows used to launch and repair satellites. Low Orbit Volunteer Enthusiasm has no weight or mass. The most powerful force in the universe, it can only be studied by the trail it leaves behind.

Conclusions

Scientists are certain of one thing: the incredible force on the banks of Thread Creek shows no signs of diminishing. They expect RoseAnn's light to remain visible for billions of years to come.

Monday, June 18, 2018

Friday, March 16, 2018

Another O'Keefe Makes It To The Rhino

Piano Man from Soul of Athens on Vimeo.
I found this video of Rick O'Keefe in Athens, Ohio. Anyone ever see him there? Interesting guy!

Friday, March 2, 2018

Dr. Cornelius "Thumbs" Pianeer - A Biography

painting of dr. cornelius pianeer
Artist Rendering of Dr. Cornelius "Thumbs" Pianeer in the Appalachian Highlands.

The Early Life of Cornelius Pianeer
Dr. Cornelius "Thumbs" Pianeer was born in the state of Michigan in the 1950s, the fifth child of nine, "like the center note of a kalimba with two older brothers and two older sisters and two younger brothers and two younger sisters and I learned how to play them all."
As a child he showed no musical talent whatsoever, though he was good at mischief and everyone could count on him to come up with a plan when a plan was needed. "That's what you call 'im-prov-i-za-tion,' son."
Dr. Pianeer dropped out of college when he was 19 and went to Ireland where he worked shoveling cow poop on a farm until he learned some humility. It was in Limerick, Ireland, while playing his thumb piano in a cow pasture that he was visited by the fairies and given the gift of song.
Unable to find a lass and settle down, Dr. Pianeer returned to Michigan where he flunked Basic Harmony and decided to pursue the ministry. He sold all his possessions, bought a backpack and went to the Grand Canyon where he lived in a cave for a month and lost his favourite thumb piano. Dr. Pianeer then followed the rain to the great northwest where he found an Irish lass and settled down on the shores of Puget Sound.
Thumb Piano Brings the Rain
It's said the thumb piano brings the rain. In Africa, thumb piano musicians are recruited to drought-stricken areas. Dr. Pianeer says "the thumb piano should always be played near running water because that's the rhythm it follows. If there's no running water, the thumb piano will make its own."
Living on the edge of a rain forest on the Olympic Peninsula, Dr. Pianeer perfected his style without causing problems for the locals due to all the rain. On vacations, his Irish wife asked him to leave the thumb pianos at home.
Dr. Pianeer was living the good life, roaming the mountains and the seas, making up shanties on his thumb pianos, calling in tides and sending out vibes. That all ended when his Irish bride went a little crazy and moved to New Orleans and Dr. Pianeer tagged along.
At the Crossroads in New Orleans
By this time, Dr. Pianeer had secured a Doctorate of Divinity from the Universal Life Church of Seattle, Washington, and paid $89 extra to get a fancy diploma, clergy cards, and a binder with all the language for all the typical ceremonies of the world's major religions. He was prepared to recite ceremonies for birth, transition to adulthood, marriage, sickness, death and despair in five faiths. In New Orleans, he added a few more.
Dr. Pianeer quickly became involved with the Catholic Church and several Voodoo churches in New Orleans, working as a teacher, musician and healer. "The thumb piano was made for healing. It sets peoples minds at ease."
At the Voodoo Spiritual Temple on Rampart Street, near the crossroads at Congo Square, Dr. Pianeer performed a piano service four mornings a week for the tourists and "the Loa." He was billed as The Piano Priest of New Orleans and was known as a friend to the disadvantaged.
"Sometimes people throwed money in, sometimes they took it out," Dr. Pianeer said of the collection plate that was passed during his performances. The Temple also served as a soup kitchen and sleeping shelter and Dr. Pianeer often played to a roomful of sleeping bags and vomit. "Young folks got no place to go if they can't go home."
Hurricane Katrina and the Beginning of the End
Alone, divorced, mentally fragile, Dr. Pianeer lived in the Faubourg Marigny off the French Quarter in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina came and washed away all his flock. Dr. Pianeer stayed another three years, helping rebuild St. Roch Church and lifting the spirits of his listeners and visiting the hospitals with his healing kalimba.
But Dr. Pianeer's own health declined and he was certified mentally ill and put on tranquilizers. The hurricanes kept coming and people learned the thumb piano brings water and they asked Dr. Pianeer to stop. That's when he met another lass, Miss Amelia Mae, an artist and religious scholar who was also alone, divorced and mentally complex. The two of them ran off together to the Shenandoah Valley to recuperate and try again.
Way Back Up in the Woods Among the Evergreens
They lived in the woods where they made art and music and love. Dr. Pianeer learned how to rile-up the cicadas with his Karimba thumb piano, which has rattles attached. "You can play it at night and they all line up on it. Cicadas, frogs, crickets, birds -- they all love the kalimba and will line up on it if you play long enough."
One of Dr. Pianeer's first recorded performances is in the woods in the mountains with the crickets and the crows. "I got the call that my daughter's pappy-in-law got the word he got cancer. So I went outside and played a healing song for him, and it came out 'Ditty for Daniel,' and the crows came in at the end. I recorded it on my phone and sent it over to Nashville for him but it didn't do any good."
After five years in the mountains, Dr. Pianeer and his artist wife Mae moved into town and Dr. Pianeer volunteered at the local school for the deaf and the blind since he knew a little sign language on account of being a 10-religion minister and helper of the disadvantaged. Well wouldn't you know they put him with the blind kids instead of the deaf ones, so he learned how to read and write Braille and how to work with young people who, like him, have cognitive difficulties.
The Healing Powers of the Thumb Piano
One thing leads to another, don't you know, and Dr. Pianeer is now working with a blind audio engineer who showed him how to better record the thumb piano. Now Dr. Pianeer travels around the world with his artist wife Mae, playing healing thumb piano and recording thumb piano, and a blind engineer makes it all sound good on the stereo!
Dr. Pianeer expects the Big Shot behind the dozen religions he has mastered will soon call him to perform in another dimension "where human beings ain't allowed." These healing recordings will be all that's left to help future generations understand the healing powers of the kalimba, the karimba, the thumb piano, the mbira, the sansula, the tamboola and all the other variations of tuned tines. "Just watch out for the water."

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Wren I Call Your Name

Dr Cornelius Thumbs Pianeer

LissenUp!

I givin' y'all a PRE RELEEZ of this new ambien' masterpeez, "Wren I Call Your Name," bein' a DUIT between yerz trooly and a Wren! I dedkate this peez to Conor Seraphim O'Keez 'count of hez love of the Wren and hez love of TRAINS which, if yer lis'nin, come 'bout 30 sekenz and the Wren come 'bout three.

Yerz Trooly!
Dr. Cornelius "Thumbs" Pianeer

https://drive.google.com/open?id=16UO821wMOXJdd_VYcvIS3aNi2ixH4_Bl

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

THUMBS DRIVE Track Listings


This Giftmas, I provided Seraphim, Tom, Barry, and Donald each with a THUMBS DRIVE containing four CDs of the legendary Appalachian-American, Dr. Cornelius Pianeer. I have since mailed a THUMBS DRIVE to Cristy & Kelly and Owen. Hopefully, y'all got your THUMBS DRIVES. Here's a copy of the track listings in case y'all want to be educated about what you're listening to. Enjoy!

| | | | | <

Saturday, December 23, 2017

Chess Boy: Capablanca’s Golden Bishop, Part 8

Created digitally, kind of a different look. I think I like analog better for Chess Boy, but doing stuff in color on digital is pretty sweet, stay tuned...

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Chess Boy: Capablanca's Golden Bishop, Part 5

For some reason the scan picked up a lot of what I thought were erased pencil lines, maybe I'll try to clean it up later.

Christmas Bugs

I actually drew this comic last year but I just found it. I had drawn two more empty panels after these, but I can't remember what was going to go in them, likely more bugs.


Saturday, December 2, 2017

4 Panel Space Saga

Well, folks:

I am pleased to present you with the product of several weeks' intensive comic drawing labor! 


Sunday, November 19, 2017

Might Sound Better With the Sound Turned Off

Some have asked, "UNK, how do you get those strange sounds from your piano?"
So glad you asked! Here is a two-minute illustration of my piano fisting technique.




Monday, November 13, 2017

Skating Song Snippet



The short video, below, is a test of a new recording format for me. I'd appreciate any comments on the visual presentation and the audio. Is it too loud? Too muddy? This snippet is similar to "The Skating Song" on the CD "Christmas Raga." Notice the iconography! Enjoy!


 



Saturday, November 11, 2017

HUMBLE GIVINGS

*KhRRRM* (to quote Conor)
I hereby propose to announce a new Christmas Policy, or rather, thematic guideline, proposed to me by m'colleague Tom, on Christmas Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve EveEve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve EveEve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve

* * * *

WHEREAS the truest gifts, are those which cannot be grasped nor even seen and
WHEREAS the spirit of the season is frequently burdened, obscured, clotted and obstructed by excess, and
WHEREAS a proliferation of bohemian decision making has deprived all but the patriarch of substantial means, and
WHEREAS the young, also, due to the arrival of many new "little tubs" are not only constrained monetarily but temporally, and
WHEREAS resourcefulness and scrappitude are guiding principles of the culture, as passed down especially from the matriarch, and
WHEREAS the greatest gifts come in small packages, and
WHEREAS the Lore of the Season emphasizes and enshrines especially that which is of especially small stature
SUCHAS The Tim of small proporsh in the Carol and, also, the Givings of a petite percussionist, and 
MOREOVER the smallness and humilitude of even the central figurine of the Babe, and the most humble quality of his bedchambers are immortalized and preserved in many songs and verses, 

THEREFORE
In the spirit of past guidelines such as Many Gifts, we resolve to institute a guideline of "Humble Givings" to be instituted in this season. 

SUCHTHAT those participants may be not only liberated but encouraged to fixate upon that which might be overlooked due to its diminutive nature, either in market value, physical size, or that which, in form or function, attains or aspires only to the smallest. 


* * * *

Merry Boxing Day Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve EveEve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve
<3 div="">
B

Saturday, September 23, 2017

Poem about things

fantastical actresses collapsing their passing praxis till they're strapped with molasses my masses of mattresses ask pastors for plasters while my blasters last longer than a stronger man's masters a big dog on top of a log asking god for a frog to sing songs on a ponderous slog my slugs buddies a nugget a bug who's ugly but studied his ruddy thugs run drugs to bums while their brothers are bloodied I've got no love for weevil they're evil like Stevie the weasel who sneezes bees into my easel  while wheaties please my aunt Edie my people get down and clown around bounding through boundless counties their round hienies are shiny but tiny like Pliny's mind in a mountie karate choppers and potty shoppers keep popping Pilates while poppas basmati rice is topped with bodies

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Some poems

The troubled bluster of the sublet was but less for the butler's subtle bustle.

The staple leapt into the pasted petals, pleats of pastel on a pallid plate.

Monday, August 14, 2017

Composure

Composure
for Sonny Rollins

Every note I hit is wrong.
I hit it too hard or I hold it too long.
I play it too slow or I play it too fast.
Or I play it just right without knowing what's next.
Hearing the gap          I start to panic.
My left hand goes in search of the tonic.
My right hand sends out a sonic array:
Surely one of these notes must be okay?
On my way to it I hear something strange,
So I back right up and play it again.
There's something to it so I keep on diggin'
Trying to get this new stuff to fit in,
Hoping it doesn't all sound like crap
As I start trying to find my way back.
Before I get there, it all falls apart
My right hand and left hand grope in the dark.
Mercifully, the piece is now over
As I sit weeping and try to recover.

On listening back the all angst is gone!
So is the feeling I've done something wrong.
All that is left are the notes of this song.

Monday, April 24, 2017

Ascension - UnPrepared Piano by Steve O'Keefe

Soundcloud won't let me post the full story about this strange recording, so I bring it to Cardboard Rhino for your consideration. Feedback welcome!


 Ascension - UnPrepared Paino by Steve O'Keefe


On Tuesday, I heard this amazing symphony on the morning show on WKCR public radio from Columbia University. You can get it online or on Echo or Google Home or Tune In. Just get it! And listen to the morning (usually) piano set from 10 a.m. to 12 noon weekdays and you will hear a lot of good music and improve your work productivity.
So I heard this music, and it just keeps swelling and swelling, lots and lots of strings piling up on each other and horns blaring and timpani rumbling. I'd never heard anything like it. The announcer said it was the 9th Symphony by Anton Bruckner, and Austrian composer who was active at the end of the 19th Century.
I told my wife, collage artist Deborah O'Keeffe, about the Bruckner and she said, "Oh, yes. Bruckner. I have several of his things." Sure enough, she had symphonies 3 through 9 on CD. She brought them as we headed out the door for a six day road trip.
I did all the driving -- a couple thousand miles -- and we listened to two symphonies a day. They're all different flavors of the same thing: really, really big sound! Fanfares. Swelling. Endless building and building, with big waves of chords crashing down like thunder. Yum!
We got home and my hands and arms were vibrating from two straight days of controlling the wheel and every time I closed my eyes I saw objects whizzing by. Jacked on coffee to get me through the West Virginia mountains, I needed a release.
Down in the basement in the poured concrete cellar in the back room is a piano. A really big piano. A Schiller Grand Upright pre-war piano with a rebuilt action that I purchased at Goodwill Industries a few months ago for $65. I paid $150 more to intern it in the basement.
Down in the basement I have a set of tools I purchased from Werlein's Music in New Orleans that used to belong to a piano doctor of some reputation who had passed away. I asked to look at the tuning hammer -- which is really a wrench -- and they said sure but they are not breaking up the set. So I purchased the whole kit.
The first time I tried to tune a piano, I snapped a couple strings. I decided to leave tuning to the professionals. But I hung onto this kit all these years in case I ever needed to fix a piano. Then I had a dream about six months ago that I was playing a solo piano concert using a crowbar and a chainsaw. I just can't get the piano to make the sounds I want it to make.
I have always wanted to attach a bass drum pedal to an upright piano so I can bang the box whenever I want. I also lust for a high-hat or sock cymbal by my right foot. Lately, I have taken to playing with a tambourine under my left foot. Some of those recordings might surface someday. Now I have a piano I can break any way I want and who cares? And I can record the whole thing.
It's not that I want to break a piano (I do), it's that I want different sounds to come out of it, sounds that match a real world that's very messed up right now. "All the sounds a piano makes is too pretty!" (Sun Ra) So I did actually put a crowbar across the strings, ok, but I also wove wire between the strings and used clothespins to dampen notes and even went at some of the string with a Ryobi cordless power drill.
Nothing really worked. The best sound I came up with was to attach metalic cup hooks to the strings on the bass octave of the piano. It makes a ghostly rumble heard at the beginning of this track, like old Jacob Marley rattling his chains or Davy Jones banging around in his locker. The sound contains sustaining harmonics thanks to the metal, as well as the rustle of the cuphooks rattling. I like it very much!
So I come home from this long road trip, hands shaking from the wheel, mind rattled from the road, and I go down to the poured concrete cellar and hit that bad note. Next thing you know, I was rolling five bad notes in the bass, with the sustain pedal wide open so those weird harmonics won't ever die!
Then I started rolling the right hand, too, and before I knew it the piano was bouncing and the walls were shaking and the vibrations travelled down this big rock I live on in the Appalachian Mountains and all across the Shenandoah Valley -- from Winchester to Blacksburg -- began to rumble from the thunder of the Schiller playing Bruckner!
The hammers were flying and the chords were stacking up like only a church organist can do (Bruckner was an organist). Every time I thought I was getting too loud, I doubled down and laughed and roared and played some more! I felt in control, not of the notes, but of the sound. I felt free.
I didn't record.
But I had learned a style -- Bruckner -- that I wanted to try again. And so I have.
I've made several recordings; "Ascension" is the best so far. Because the piano is so badly out of tune, if I leave my thunder chord in the left hand, it all falls apart. So I have to stay down there and play by modulating the volume and the pace and forget about the pitch. In the right hand, I'm trying to be brave and looking for anything that works.
My wife heard this and she said it sounds like I'm reaching for something I haven't grasped yet. That might be a polite way of saying it sounds like crap. But I'm okay with that. The world is crap right now and I want to make a sound that is authentic to the experience. And I think the sound of reaching is the very best sound of all -- don't you?
And so I give you Ascension, the first of the Bruckner recordings from the broken Schiller piano played by Steve O'Keefe. Enjoy?
Image of Anton Bruchner by Ferry Bératon [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Barry Donald Drawing Games - Tokyo Edition


- Ugly Donald by Barry
- Ugly Barry by Donald
- Pig-Snake-Ant and Duck-Shark by Barry
- Heron-Turtle by Donald (dotted line shows leg extension)