Happy 2011 !

My good friend Alpha Cowboy just reminded me tonight that I pay almost NO attention to this BLOG! Well the reason for that is because I spend so much time on my MY___ blog, "Belabored Balderdash" that can be found by clicking HERE! What? Nothing happened?? Oh…that’s right…nothing will! Sorry about that!!

After 5 years I closed my My___ account on or bout January 3rd. So long Aquakitty! So long DJ Marilyn Thomas! So long Sandy! So long Fallen Angel!! I guess that’s the end! I posted several ways for my friends to contacted once I left but I never got any acknowledgment or feedback  and that's what the problem was over there! Barely anyone was still around!  Everyone abandoned My__ for the cold, industrial walls of FaceBook or the Twitopia of Twitter land. Hey… “Twitopia!” I got a new name for a new social network site! Hmm...it's probablt been used...anyway....

The last part of my final blog on My___ went something like this (for any of you who might be interested)


“…So this is where we are now and My___ feels like an old story that no one wants to hear for the hundredth time. It’s the forgotten board game collecting dust in the closet. The party’s at FaceBook for most folks and I don’t particularly care for the crowd!

I think I’m just burnt out on the whole Social networking thing. For me...it’s gotten old and I think I would like to focus more of my attention on interacting with REAL flesh and blood human beings...although that’s clearly no longer in vogue! But hey, maybe I can do my small part to try to bring that back!

So... as the late great Tom Snyder announced when he closed his website “Colortini” In 2005, “"The novelty of communicating this way has worn off."
And indeed the novelty of My___ AND FaceBook HAVE worn off!”


So lets all look forward to a new beginning here in 2011 at KieranBanksVogel.com!! If you haven’t visited here for a while you might want to browse around! I’ve completely revamped the Home Page and I’ve updated the Comics, Miscellaneous, and Roundy sections! I also fixed all the broken music links in the Other Interests section and on the introductory BLOG page. But so you don’t have to go hunt for them because they’re pretty well hidden. I’m talking about THIS and THIS (not like the My___ one HONEST! These really work!! )

It seemed like a shame to me to just delete all the bizarre little graphics I had created over the years on My__ so I created a NEW section here called “Photo Art” where I will be gradually uploading all tidbits of visual nonsense I salvaged from my defunct account!

OK…the snow is falling steadily here in the Pocono Mountains. On wicked nights like this the hot chocolate tastes more chocolaty and blankets are warmer and the creative juices flow unencumbered by the regrets and concerns that are better able to seep into a tortured mind on nights when the climate is less fierce. I’m not sure why that is but it’s true.

I’m off now to doodle, and write and snooze and doodle some more.

I’ll be back again VERY soon…I promise. Your comments, critiques and questions are always, are invited and welcomed . . .whether I know you or not! That’s right…even if I DO know you and we don’t like each other I invite you to comment!

TRA!

Return to KieranBanksVogel.com

Ray Gleason and Cuthbert???

Hi everyone! (the 1 or 2 of you that know about this place, LOL)

Take a look at this antique publication I found while I was going through some boxes of fun junk.



What a positively bizarre illustration. I LOVE it! I think this came from my grandmother's house many years ago when it was being cleaned out for her to move in with my folks. It's a wonderfully odd little gem I saved from the trash bin!

By the way...can someone explain the first gag to me on page 49? “Cuthbert?” Huh? What!?? I think it’s just too sophisticated for me. Actually I don’t really get the second gag either! I love the graphics though!



The drawing looks like it’s signed by a Ray Gleason. I wonder who the heck that is? Maybe I’ll go Wiki him!

OK...I just looked up Ray Gleason in Wikipedia and the first result was a movie from 1994 called “Getting Even with Dad” a comedy starring Macaulay Culkin and Ted Danson. The film “ did not perform well at the box office. Also, it received negative reception from a few critics.” Personally I think Ted Danson looks like a gorilla and Macaulay Culkin has created his own special brand of “insufferable.”

Seriosuly...I looked all over the Internet, even on ebay and Amazon couldn't find ANYTHING about him! I just submitted this question to YAHOO Answers...

"I have a very old book here maybe from the 20s or 30s with great cartoon illustrations in it by a Ray Gleason. The book is called "Wet & Dry Jokes." Anyone out there know who Ray Gleason is or is he an artist that the world has completely forgotten?"

Hey, you never know maybe someone will have some information. I don't know why I get so curious about these things!

Well that’s it from me for now! I’m gonna go do some reading on the history of Bazooka Joe and have a cup of coffee. Hey for me that’s an exciting Friday night!

Here I Am Again!

Is it true??? Is this actually a NEW blog???  Yes it is! You’ll also notice that I have, yet again, switched to a new blog host. I WAS using WordPress but I found the user interface behind the scenes...what they call the “dashboard” to be to darn befuddling.  I got dashed by the dashboard...and bored of it too! If it takes more effort for me to post a blog here than it does on MySpace I’m probably going to keep putting it off. That’s why you haven’t read anything new from me since December 19, 2008!!  Every time I felt like posting a quick thought or a comment I KNEW I’d have to deal with the WordPresse’s byzantine, technical shenanigans.  So blah, blah, blah, babbly, babble, babble, Whosiwhatsit and tallyho!  This is the host I’m using (for now) so let’s stop dwelling on it and just forge ahead shoulder to shoulder, bolder and bolder  (whatever that means)

And when I type “let’s” I really mean “let us” and by “us” I really mean my niece Leeanna because I think she’s like the only one in the world that knows about this site. Well, I think Alpha Cowboy knows about it as well but after a year of having nothing happen around here I think he gave up! I mean...maybe he WANTS to see what’s doing here but his horse refuses to take him! LOL!!  I wonder if even Leeanna is around? Maybe she gave up too! Who knows!?!?

So basically I’m sitting here typing to myself because I’m mental.  Would you like to know what I’ve been up to?  I mean maybe there is someone out there!

Well FIRST of all let me tell you that The Chronicles Of Roundy comic archives have finally been updated!

Just click HERE to catch up on his adventures!

My old Epson Stylus CX4800 All-In-One Printer finally gave up the ghost (what a dumb expression) and I just replaced it today with the Kodak ESP 3250 All-In-One Printer.  I’m hoping because it’s called an “ESP” that it will also read my mind at night and print out some of my dreams.  OK...well I’m not really counting on that but I AM happy that the INK for the ESP 3250 will be MUCH less expensive. Epson robs you BLIND in the ink department. I mean it's almost $50 to replace my INK! You know what I'm talking about I'm sure!. To replace the Kodak ink it will only run me about $15! That's why they state on Kodak's web site, "Last year, America overpaid $5 Billion for inkjet printer ink." Boy they aint kidding! 

Oh dear lord...now is GOOGLE going to scan this blog and automatically put Epson and Kodak ads all over the place on here? I swear I has NOTHING to do with it!

So anyway, once my new scanner is all hooked up and running (no small feat to get it to cooperate with my MAC) I’ll be updating some other parts of this website!

Hmm...Anything else pointless I can tell you about? I’m seriously considering starting up a Doctor Kazoo web site just devoted to my interest in kazoos (what else?). I own the domain name Doctor Kazoo .com so I SHOULD do something with it!  Heck...there’s another kazoo collector (yup...1 other nut job collects kazoos in America, LOL) whose site got him a book deal after several years!  You never know!!

I also am toying around with the idea of creating an entire site just about spooky vintage jazz!  Sure everyone knows tunes like “In The Mood” or “When The Saints Go Marching In” or “Georgia” but how many of you are familiar with such gems as “Mysterious Mose” and “Bug-A-Boo” and “The Ghost of Smokey Joe?”  These are macabre old tunes that the world has all but forgotten but shouldn’t have! Such solid musicianship flavored with dark humor and inventiveness.  I might even make it an offshoot of this kooky site!  I had a lot of fun posting some of them on my MySpace page this Halloween.

As happy as I’ve been with YAHOO as a web host their site building software is a little buggy and sometimes blocks of text disappear for no apparent reason from my site! Also it’s not MAC compatible. I’m currently considering GoDaddy as a host...we’ll see what happens!

Well...that’s about it for now. Let me just wrap up by reminding all of you (I should tell someone about this site!) by reminding all of you that the company I have launched with my family IS fully completed and up and running!  If you see any missing text there it’s because of YAHOO’s unpredictable hosting software that I already mentioned. I try to keep on top of any glitches!  And yes Leeanna (if you are reading this) your Coat Of Arms has been made and we’re mailing it to you soon! Sorry for the delay!

Just click on Astrological Heraldry to visit the site!     

I wanted to leave you all with something fun to watch (you waited a YEAR for this next BLOG!!) so here is some video of my brother, me, and our good friend Alpha Cowboy playing some music in Vermont this past August. Sorry it’s so dark but it WAS late and all we had was an old video camera and it was raining and my socks were wet. 



TRA!