Attribution: James McTaggart, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, lies low today as the keeper works to develop his “Ailment Complaint Guide” for use primarily in elderly environs but also useful for all ages in responding to the ubiquitous “How are you?” in even casual encounters. The following card …
Read
Kickass and Tobacco Spitting
Attribution: University of Texas at Arlington Photograph Collection, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, tries to be helpful as the keeper goes off on a Monday morning tangent and wonders where the tobacco industry located the spittoons at the POTUS birthday party on the White House trash dumping area? …
Read
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Obsession”
Careful What You Wish For: Review of Obsession ★★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter In past reviews, I’ve written a fair amount about the renaissance of the horror genre in today’s cinema and these modern filmmakers’ expansion of the traditional genre tropes to include issues of social and cultural importance. It’s not just …
Read
Kickass and Display Letters
Attribution: Dclemens1971, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog is assisting the keeper and Phyllis with the international garage sale today as it offers the specialty item of 18 outdoor display letters with the following advertising: “For sale: 18 outdoor display letters. Lightly used in a bogus scheme to destroy …
Read
Kickass and Radio Ban
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper was told yesterday in discussion prior to a radio interview that the word “kickass” could not be said on the air as it was considered profanity and might be offensive to some listeners. This news caused the keeper to briefly consider …
Read
Kickass and Good Genes
Photo courtesy of Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in wishing the keeper’s “little brother” Orville a happy 91st birthday and noting that he and their sister Norma now at 93, and the keeper flirting with 95–on the upcoming 9/11, the three of them represent a genetic handoff …
Read
Kickass at Madison Square Garden
Attribution: Zakarie Faibis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, as a Madison, WI resident has never had occasion to visit Madison Square Garden in New York, but the keeper has, once, when the Democrats gathered there in 1973 to nominate Jimmy Carter as their presidential candidate. The incident may …
Read
Circularity
Attribution: Photo by Galina Nelyubova on Unsplash By Geoff Carter A couple weeks ago, some old college buddies and I got together to go to our annual Brewers’ game outing. We keep in touch mostly because we exchange emails that inevitably spiral into discussions about politics, sports, and other sundry subjects, but we’ve known each other for decades. …
Read
Kickass Gets Storm Ready
Attribution: Mathias Krumbholz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, gets in extra napping this morning of June 10, 2026 as the keeper and Phyllis batten down the hatches in preparation for the violent weather predicted over the next two days. “Preparation” for them has limited application in their multi-storied …
Read
Kickass and Barn Talk
Attribution: DonkeyHotey, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, works with the keeper to explain “barn talk” under the terms of which the POTUS, during his recent stop in a Wisconsin barn, totally lost his cool and said he hated everybody except himself. Having grown up in a community where …
Read
Kickass and Phyllis as Publisher
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in his appreciation of the publisher of Ah, the women! his novel about women saving the world from the libido-driven outrageousness of men. That publisher happens to be the keeper’s wife Phyllis –“Trillium Press” who worked through Amazon and other creative entities to …
Read
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “No Other Choice”
Working Stiffs: Review of No Other Choice ★★★★ Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Park Chan-wook’s black comedy thriller No Other Choice opens with an idyllic sequence of suburban family life in South Korea. A father, Yoo Man-su (Lee Byung-Hun), is grilling in the backyard of his childhood home with his family. His beautiful wife Lee …
Read