This is a site dedicated to one family’s carefree creativity.
So, every year at Thanksgiving, we travel to Uncle Barry’s(not to be confused with my brother, Little Barry who comes on here every so often) house in Maryland. When we leave, we are certain to leave an echo of our brain-stimulating presence by drawing in chalk all over the walkway. Typically, there is a winter theme. I photographed our work this year for the Rhino.
I was wandering around on the web when I encountered an expertly crafted cardboard rhino and a t-shirt based on it. You can find the site here and the t-shirt here. They are made by the artist known as Kritch. Look around on the website and you won’t be disappointed. The hand-made robots are magnificent works of simple, clever craftsmanship.
A little something for the X mas season. “Many gifts.”
I invented a new board game about bees collecting different colored nectar. The object of the game is to collect one drop of each color of nectar first. Hazards along the way include thorny brambles, sticky dew drops, and spiders.
The key mechanic of the game is the wind. At the beginning of each turn, the wind blows each bee one square. On the next turn, the direction changes (moving around the compass rose clockwise). For this reason, you need to not only move your bee towards the nectar you want, but also keep in mind where the wind will blow your bee. For instance, if you see that the wind is going to blow east next, you don’t want to move your bee so that there is a spider just east of it.
There are a couple of other rules, but those are the basics. Here’s a picture of the board.
I playtested the game tonight. It went OK… it definitey needs some work… but I think there’s some good stuff in it.
In the summer of 2K6 I took the bus up to Alexandria to visit Tim. We were talking about funny tag names.
“Ok, ok, how about one with a b, an o and a y?”
“Boydz”
So I had some paper there and I drew a little grumpy bird with a cigar and some scraggly feathers. Wouldn’t it be funny, I thought, if he had a bunch of little baby birds following him around? Wouldn’t it be funny if he was a tough single father bird, learning up his little chicks in the ways of city life? Now you can decide for yourself!:
(To Tom: The ‘one panel’ format is necessary because of Boydz’ graffiti roots.)
Bonus: Can you spot Conor’s favorite joke?
A new comic by me (Tom O’Keefe) for you (?).
Boo!
The Jack o’ Lantern is one simple and fun creative act that almost everyone has participated in at some point. Unfortunately, it seems like these days everbody and their sister is using stencils, instead of their natural brain energy. I think stencils are for the birds, personally.
The left, cyclopean pumpkin is mine. On the right is Laura’s, inspired by Jack Pumpkinhead from Frank L. Baum’s “Oz” books.
Here, hot off the proverbial presses, is a comic for you. It is extremely deep and thought provoking, so be sure to read it 20 or 30 times in order to be certain you understand it fully.
So, here’s a little comic I made. 
Surprisingly, it is partially based on true events from my life. Case in point, I did receive 10 dollars and did not get hit by lightning shortly afterwards. They say art imitates life, after all.
Well everyone, somehow it feels like the right time for posting on Carboard Rhino. This time, I’ll be displaying my latest most favorite venue for personal expression: the board game. The continuing success of strongly themed, elegant, and thoughtful German Style boardgames (or “eurogames”) has fueled the argument that games are an art form. For more information in this arena, see this blog.
My latest foray into the world of game design is Meals for the Gods. It is a simple game of bidding. Here is a piture of it:
Basically, each player is serving a god. Each turn, your god desires a food from the “Menu of the Gods,” determined by rolling a die. You then bid on that food. If two players both roll the same, a bidding war begins! Satisfy your god’s desires 10 times and you win! Displease them 3 times in a row and you are eaten! There are other rules, too, so if you want those feel free to ask. Best of all, a few dinosaurs and jungle animals from the dollar store for gods, some six-sided dice and a 50-60 tokens of some kind (I have used plastic jewels) and you are ready to play… MEALS FOR THE GODS!
Along the shores of the barrier islands of North Carolina, in the scrub and swamps of the backwaters of Cape Fear, there dwelled a small band of aboriginals known as
The Tribe of the Tomahawk Toot-Toot
The tribe was named after a set of magical power sticks, passed down through the generations, invoked in battles, used to bestow blessings, and honored in ceremonies.
Only Seven Are Known to Have Survived
The seven remaining sticks are treasured relics and bear the ceremonial names the Toot-Toots have given them.
The Four Sons
The North and South are tied with Red.
The East and West are blond.
A marking near the toot action airsplitter
indicates the direction of the magic stick.
The Ancestors
These magic sticks retain the wider Axe Blade of the Toot-Toot Tomahawk. Tied in golden thread, they represent the male & female faces of energy flows — the ying & yang, salt’n’peppa, you know.
You can tell the Father apart because his finger holes point away from the Axe Blade.
There is one more Tomahawk Toot-Toot, prized above all others and long missing:
It is said the Blade is tied with fire. It makes a sound so beautiful the Pelicans fly mandalas when they hear it.
In the old days, the remaining members of The Tribe of the Tomahawk Toot-Toot would gather on the shores of Tomahawk Island and celebrate their ancestors by reenacting the feared nightly parade of the Toot-Toots, hoot-tootin’ it and hot-footin’ it down the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and resonatin’ down Cape Fear with their doo-woppin’ scattinany hijinx, taking the stars out of the sky, kicking them all over the beach, telling stories, walking backwards, and conjurin’ up mermaids and other mayhem from them
Lying in Bed by Samir Bakhshi
My eyes are shut
My ears are open
My nose is blocked
My mouth has spoken
* During finals week this spring my roomate Samir was sick. Early in the morning he rattled this off from under the covers.
I’m working on the revised Cardboard Rhino logo, but I’m not yet finished due to my continued work on the press materials for my senior thesis film here at the North Carolina School of the Arts.
The film is a documentary about a local beekeeper, and I thought that to tide everyone over until I get the new rhino done I would show you the poster design I just finished up.
The smoker, the veil, the field, the smoke, the clouds, and the individual bees are all from seperate photos that I patched together. I like minimalist movie posters, especially the poster for Downhill Racer and for Rosemary’s Baby, so that’s what I decided to go for, and I thought that style would make it more clear that the movie is more than just a nature documentary.
Holy Hands On Mechanic
“By Your Faith, you bring your car to us”
“By Our Works, your car will be repaired”
(click to enlarge)
Found taped to the door of “The Love of Jesus” Thrift Store.
Cardboard Rhino 
