Hey everyone! I just want to wish you all a very Happy New Year and to take the time to thank those who have already been enjoying my songs on 'Migration Songs'. The feedback has been very encouraging and the sales are going well. As Ringo says " Peace and Love". All the best to you in 2016!

A few years ago we visited NYC to attend the Heritage Music Festival (my son's school band was competing). When anyone who loves the music of John Lennon goes to the 'Big Apple' a trip to Strawberry Fields is in order, and our visit was no different. After wandering around Central Park for a spell we eventually came upon the site. I was surprised by how small the memorial actually is - I don't know what I was expecting, but something larger I suppose. None the less, it was an emotional experience. While hanging around the site taking a break from the walking we were entertained by a couple of musicians plying their busker skills. They were excellent to listen to and just the break needed...too bad John had to be shot to make this possible!

Here's a pic that clearly shows the scale of the memorial. Only goes to show, you don't need a huge display to attract true mourners! In all it was a gentle and thought provoking time we spent there, across the avenue from the Dakota Hotel. Beautiful and immensely sad at the same moment.

We're nearing Christmas Day! Into the last week of tearing around, shopping, sweating, swearing and generally getting into the spirit of things! Here's a favourite pic of mine from a visit to the Museum of Modern Art in NYC...sums it all up nicely!

​Hang in there Baby, you're gonna make it!!

Well, this website will soon have been up and running three years! Where the !@#$% does the time go? I've learned a lot about the internet, search engines, blogs, and so on. I've also learned that there's so much more to learn! If all goes well I will soon be opening a 'Shop' page (in the next several days) and making available for purchase some items I've been marketing over the last while. 
I hope that visitors to this site have enjoyed the comments and humour I've tried to convey. If I've offended anyone it's not intentional...if you've enjoyed the cartoons, Clarence the Christmas Caribou, Sculpin Tickle and so on, that was intentional!! I'm now working on a rewrite of a novel I've written so stay tuned for more information on that, as well as compiling a collection of another strip 'treesn'. More on that later as well.
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Thanks for sticking with me!

Well, the CD has started to sell! I'm delighted that people are enjoying the tunes. I've still got some to get out to selected folk and am also looking into digital formats as well.

AND 'Sculpin Tickle' drawings that did not make it to the scanner back when I was working on the project...they're uploaded now here 

That's right! I've finally stayed still long enough to lay down the tracks! Check out the album page for more information!

 Well, here we are at last, the final 8 panel Clarence the Christmas Caribou strip! 62 months of coming up with gags and laughs (hopefully! At least I know I had a few good laughs writing and drawing them). 62 months of giggling to myself as I toiled in the lamplight of my drawing board. 62 months of people wondering what I was up to when I probably could have been up to something more productive, or more lucrative, or whatever...
Truth is, during that time I had the opportunity to explore what makes up a Newfoundlander and Labradorian [note: this is a term that did not exist when I was originally drawing 'Clarence'!], what makes us tick so to speak. All these strips eventually were published in book form by a local publishing company, that went out of business...not my doing! The title: 'Ungulate Philosophy'.
I did continue on to draw many more months as a 4 panel strip. these can be found elsewhere on the Random Sound Studio website, continuing on in the same vein of commentary on our collective psyche. Someday there may be another collection...who knows? All I know is that I loved drawing them and many kudos to Ron Young for suggesting that.
Just remember, life really IS too short - Have fun! It's a good life.

Ha ha ha! I'm sure that everyone I know has suffered the very same frustrations that Clarence has in the above strip. In fact, I'm sure that everyone, even those whom I don't know have suffered likewise. It's a stress that previous generations, which lacked the technology that blesses our day to day lives, could not have even imagined! That is, new technology brings new conveniences...and new curses.
​I hated the robotic blah blah that dribbled out the end of my receiver back in the day and I still hate the same drizzle I encounter, oh too often, when attempting to communicate with any businesses ... any day...every freaking day! I've learned to live with it over time, accepting it is a part of progress (albeit a part that sucks, sucks, SUCKS)! 
I've learned some coping strategies to help me through the inevitable 'Voices of the Unliving', one of which is deep breathing and zenlike mental discipline, which I'll admit sometimes brings patience. The best unfailing method of self control I've found yet though is simply a large vessel of strong alcohol, administered as needed, throughout the ordeal.

I was away from Newfoundland & Labrador during the holidays quite a bit over the years, working and living in various parts of the North American continent. During those times I experienced a fair amount of homesickness during the festive season, but I always managed to make the best of it. I can't say I was ever sad about being away, just missing the friends and family aspect of Christmas.
All these comments above are of course true experiences...or at least my play on true experiences! Panel 5 always cracked me up. The 'mummies' are most certainly the 'mummers' of Newfoundland & Labrador fame...but mentioned here through the innocent words of a child.

So, there we were, back in Labrador City Collegiate for the first time in 20 years, walking down the hall from the Teacher's Entrance, past the Office then by the windows that overlooked the gym...the first thing noticeable was the din roar of noise rising up the stairwells and down the hall! The racket grew as we descended into the crowd into the All Purpose Room and were engulfed by a swarm of apparent strangers...except everyone wore name tags baring familiar monikers. Thus began the first ever LCC High School Reunion. The next few hours turned into several days of laughter, merriment and WAY too much fun. We joked and reminisced, toasted those no longer with us,  vowed to keep in touch and in many cases actually did!
The events of the reunion are reflected in the drawing above...or at least some of the events (that I can remember)! What's not reflected are those things that are better left unsaid...or undrawn...these have been omitted to protect the guilty! 'nuff said. We had a blast of a lifetime.
I went back a few years later to a community reunion of both Labrador City and Wabush which was also a lot of fun, but nothing will ever compare to the first time I saw hundreds of cases of beer...coming out of the old canteen one by one and two by two!