Dog Ear – Page 56 – Robert Raymond’s Blogtorium

September 21, 2023

Tooned out (DOG EAR)

ne of my guilty pleasure are Webtoons, specifically found on the site of that name (search for it). This is an avenue for artists to easily post up their comic strips so the reader can follow them and enjoy them. Some of them occasionally get turned into low-budget movies. If I were an artist (and not a writer) I might consider it. I have subscribed to a dozen of these which post on different days. My little guilty pleasure was to ride my bike into work, have a shower, get a cup of coffee and since I was the first […]

October 5, 2023

My Thoughts on Curbside Libraries (DOG EAR)

uddenly Curbside Libraries are popping up all over the place. Since I tend to walk a lot, I’ll pass them often and nose in, seeing if there is anything interesting. I hate to say it, but judging America’s reading levels, it is pretty bleak. Most of the time, it is grim. Generally there are two things in these boxes – children’s books (not beloved classics, but just general teach-a-lesson books) and utility books (cookbooks, self-help books, etc). Really, this is what you people read? A few years back, I was riding my bike and came across a stack of books […]

October 19, 2023

Drug addict (DOG EAR)

his is a sad story. Recently I was at the La Mesa Club housed in the San Diego Model Railroad museum. I was there for one of their operations events, where they run their massive layout under 1950s methods, with written orders and manned stations. It’s not for the faint of heart or the impatient of mind – you can wait for hours and hours for a train, or even find yourself standing in a siding for an eternity. Also, I get cell phones and why they are so cool and convenient to have. My friend I went out there […]

November 2, 2023

Memories (DOG EAR)

ad a waking dream today. Woke up remembering a small game store in Cincinnati I went to in the mid-seventies. Small little shop on a twisty downtown street. My friends would pile into my old VW and rattle down there. In the packed shop with its game-stuffed shelves, little Marilyn (how we all had crushes on her) would talk about the latest games (and old favorites still in circulation). I’d nearly forgotten all about that. It’s strange, these little shops that the internet has rolled over. I remember when there were three hobby shops within two miles of my Orlando […]

November 9, 2023

Out of the Box (DOG EAR)

was starting to gear up to assemble the winter issue of The Journal Box. This is a model train newsletter for the local region of the National Model Railroad Association. Years back, a friend of mine needed an editor (the entire publication had fallen off the face of the earth). So I agreed to step in and do it, even though I didn’t know anything about Microsoft Publisher. Slowly learned it and started assembling these quarterly, adding a bit of a whimsical touch and some jokes here and there as I filled the pages with layouts, news, and coverage of […]

November 30, 2023

Sharp and Short (DOG EAR)

et’s talk about a media I really love – phones! I have to carry a phone originally because I ride a bike in the worst city in America to do so – Orlando, Florida. Here, people fly through stop signs, race too fast, corner without looking or signalling, and if they do crush a cyclist, the jury always lets them off. So yes, a couple of times I’ve ended up with a bent bike on the side of the road, calling for the wife to skyhook me home. Originally I didn’t share the number with anyone. It was my emergency […]

December 7, 2023

Santa’s burly, dangerous helper (DOG EAR)

ookophiles, it’s nearly Christmas (or Xmas, which means, what, “Extreme Christmas”?) and you know what it’s time for again, don’t you? Yes, it’s time for putting antlers and even a red poofy nose on your FUV. Okay, let’s look at this. I can’t take credit for coining the “FUV” phrase. It came from “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” on NPR. One of the guests slipped and said it and I made it my very own. An FUV (i.e. an SUV) is an oversized car, sometimes riding high on a heavy chassis, a total Americanization/Consumerization of the standard automobile. And, as […]

December 14, 2023

Backup Blogs (DOG EAR)

his blog on books, media and our perceptions is a labor of love. It is not monetized in any way. I don’t make any money off it (in fact, I pay out the nose to support it (and the blogs aren’t free, either)). No ads pop up. I don’t beg for likes and subscribes. I just like writing it and occasionally someone tells me they enjoyed what I have written. So it’s worked out so far. Then came this “paperwork thing” I’ve had to do. The National Model Railroad Association has a series of achievement programs where, if you get […]

December 21, 2023

Carol & The Blog (DOG EAR)

atching an interesting show on NetFlix – Carol and the End of the World. It’s animated and interesting – I’ve only seen three episodes so far so I won’t be spoiling much. So all we know is that some sort a massive body in space (a planetoid or something) is moving towards Earth and will destroy it in seven months. And so everyone is fulfilling their dreams and living life to the fullest. Happily, there is very little rioting or freaking out (the only evidence are broken windows and national guard tanks outside the supermarket – with bored guardsmen running […]

December 28, 2023

Best of 2023 (DOG EAR)

nce again, my favorite books of the year for 2023. Unlike prior years, I’ll post these in reverse order of enjoyment, meaning the top pick is at the end, and we’ll build up to it. So here we go: Top Books I Read in 2023! Number 5: Norse Mythology: A great book from Neil Gaiman that looks at the Norse gods and their struggles in plain (and enjoyable) English. A great read about great struggles, and the end-of-the-world was quite touching. Number 4: Never Surrender: The story of Churchill and the struggles he faces as the forces of fascism assembled […]