Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, agrees with the keeper that he is a “lucky dog” to be launching another project with granddaughter Sarah in which they explore the world of podcasts. Once a long time ago the two of them, with other family members’ help, wrote and produced “Naked …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies Film Review of “In the Hand of Dante”
Between Heaven and Hell: Film Review of In the Hand of Dante ★★☆☆ Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter It’s been said that history repeats itself and that life imitates art. Sometimes taken in conjunction, these points can be foundational to the construction of unique cinematic narratives. Films like The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Possession use dual-timeline, historical …
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Kickass and the EPIC Grounds
Attribution: Ylem, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, was not with the keeper and Phyllis as they were guest passengers with Jack and Marsha W in a fascinating windshield tour of the sprawling Epic grounds near Verona. That such a gigantic blend of real estate and reality and fantasy …
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Kickass and the Family at the River
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, stayed on door duty as the keeper and Phyllis joined some of the keeper’s crew to send Rick and Becky from their riverside summer digs back to Colorado and their prairie dog battle. An afternoon rain shower briefly threatened to join the festivities but …
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Kickass Speaks Norwegian
Attribution: Werner Co., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that as he tunes in to the information that everyone except for a handful of white, Christian, racist billionaires is destined for deportation to the countries of their family’s origin, the keeper recognizes the virtue of brushing up on …
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Kickass and the Raven
Attribution: Dario Taraborelli, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joined the keeper and Phyllis in trying to solve the mystery of the tapping and rapping just over their computer positions located near the balcony of their top floor Vista West apartment. The rapping began early in the morning and consisted …
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Life Cycles
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter “Dedicated to the memory of Alex Pretti” Every year during the last week of July, the Milwaukee Riverwest neighborhood, an eclectic enclave of artists, musicians, families, and working folks, hosts the Riverwest 24, a twenty-four-hour bicycle race that runs along the neighborhood streets. According to the Riverwest 24 website, the …
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Kickass and Big Animal Vets
Attribution: USDAgov, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, rarely needs to see a veterinarian but is interested in the keeper’s news that the UW Vet School is working on a program to ease the looming big-animal veterinarian shortage across the rural environs. With the inflated economics of the vet school …
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Kickass and the Haircut
Attribution: Mostafameraji, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper is under the questionable impression that as long as he has some connection with a “school” he must be learning something, hence his trek across the parking lot to the “Aveda” beauty “school” for a haircut. The school …
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Kickass and Grandma’s Sewing Maching
Attribution: Panjigally, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, sympathizes with the keeper’s family as it struggles with the problem of what to do with grandma’s old sewing machine. The dilemma is as common as weeds, and has generated multiple businesses to help with recycling “junk.” There are, of course, …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Disclosure Day”
★★★ 1/2 Handling the Truth: Film Review of Disclosure Day Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Steven Spielberg has had a long and storied relationship with aliens in his canon of cinematic masterpieces. From the adorable E.T. to the wondrously communicative and benevolent aliens in 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind to the horrors of the malignant …
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Kickass Sues the POTUS
Attribution: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, overheard the keeper tell Phyllis that he is suing the POTUS. The keeper’s basic case will be based on the verity that while he accepts that he is frequently dumb, he is not consistently as dumb as the daily …
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