Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phills joining friends Joyce and Maryann and Gary to visit the spectacular Dane County hilltop where the earliest arriving immigrant Norwegians built their first church in 1852. Known as “The Hauge Log Church,” the building still survives in amazing detail, …
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Winners and Losers
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter We live in a society that has become increasingly transactional, functioning almost exclusively under a quid pro quo sensibility. Tit for tat and this for that. One for me and one for you. All for one and all for me—and so on. At a certain age, a person …
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Kickass Apologizes to Trees
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper once wrote a book entitled “TREESON: an APPOLOGIA Trees,” which carried the keeper’s message of contrition for the trees that had been cut down and used to make the paper to print his newspaper column drivel. The book allowed him to review …
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Kickass and Feel-Good Voting
Attribution: Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, kept his napping position as the keeper and Phyllis cast their “Midterm” votes at the temporary polling place set up in the Vista West Community Room. It felt good, according to the keeper who compared it to marking territory on Elon Musk’s leg. Musk …
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Kickass and Complaint Shortage
Attribution: No machine-readable author provided. Adam the atom assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports an emotional crisis at Vista West where the keeper and Phyllis live when a day of absolutely perfect weather along with family visiting and a Packer victory over the …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “The Invite”
Tainted Love: Film Review of The Invite ★★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter It’s not often when a film combines sexual sophistication, bedroom farce, and the bloody marrow of marital strife into a watchable film, let alone one of the most watchable films in recent memory. The Invite is one of those few instances where …
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Kickass and River Rat Clan
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, needed no further proof of the “river rat” character of the keeper’s clan than what happened Sunday as he and Phyllis and multiple clan members and friends gathered at several locations along the river to……. To what? To eat and drink and tell stories …
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Kickass and the Safe Conduct Pass
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper wondering how to use the “SAFE CONDUCT PASS” that he picked up on the ground 75 years ago while patrolling along Korea’s 38th parallel. The passes were commonly scattered about by the North Korean and Chinese soldiers and they promised such things …
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Kickass Invades Canada
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper offering to advise the POTUS on Canada-US relations, having once a long time ago mounted an invasion of Canada with a force of young family members armed with boundless youthful curiosity and zestful love for life that included all of Canada …
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Kickass and the Great Apple Fight
Attribution: flydime, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that it is apple season and admits that he might have fetched an apple or two in his puppyhood, so he can identify with the keeper’s account of the great apple fight one autumn night in the back alleys of …
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American Watchdogs
Attribution: The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter The framers of the Constitution realized that a well-informed electorate was so vital to a functioning democracy, they guaranteed freedom of the press in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Our founders were determined to give the American …
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Kickass and Getting Ready for Winter
Attribution: Photo by Fabian Kleiser on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in noting yet again that with very few exceptions all living things do something to prepare to survive the coming winter. Plants drop their sensitive parts and stand as invulnerable stems. Most mammals crawl into holes and sleep. And …
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