Attribution: F. Holland Day, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has been patronizing the school across the parking lot for his haircuts, enjoying the attention of a young ambitious student who snips at him gently under an instructor’s instructions. Like all things in the keeper’s …
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Kickass and Canada Fishing
Attribution: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archivesvia Wikimedia Commons; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lake_of_the_Woods_Sunset_(Klamath_County,Oregon_scenic_images)(klaDA0246).jpg By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper misses the summer fishing trips to Canada and is prone to wallowing in selective memory exercise, like the one about Antoine the seriously hung-over guide who clung to the back of the boat on a …
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Kickass and Cousin Ed’s Reflecting Pool
Attribution: Photo by Johann Noby on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper unable to move on from the reflecting pool fiasco because it allows him to wallow in one of his favorite older-cousin memories. It was when cousin Ed bought the “go anywhere” surplus Army Jeep just after WWII and offered the keeper …
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Bad Sportsmanship
Attribution: The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter The United States of America is approaching its semiquincentennial—its two hundred and fiftieth birthday. This is going to be quite the celebration—parts of it have already begun. The reflecting pool in Washington, D.C. has been inadvertently dyed a gangrenous shade of green—not on …
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Kickass and Eye Shots
Attribution: Adam Cuerden, modified by Greg A L, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, turns the complaining couch over to the keeper this morning to see if there is any sympathy out there for him concerning the long-term shots-in-the-eye treatment procedure used by the VA Eye Clinic to treat …
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Kickass and Mills in the Reflecting Pool
Attribution: SWinxy, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper’s connection with the beleaguered Washington reflection pool is remote and comes via the night of Oct. 4,1974 when Argentine stripper Fanne Foxe jumped out of Congressman Wilbur Mills’s limo and dove into the pool as an intoxicated Mills …
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Kickass and Polluted Water
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis being warned to stay away from most natural bodies of water as they are polluted with human and animal waste and will make you sicker than a duck in the DC reflecting swamp. In responding to the urge to return …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Backrooms”
Down the Rabbit Holes: Review of Backrooms ★★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Cinema has a unique ability to embody the subjective conscious—and unconscious—through a purely visual narrative. In short, it has the ability to create nightmares. It could be argued that literature, the theater, and music can also effectively get in a …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: A Tribute to Father’s Day
Photo by Sabine van Straaten on Unsplash A Tribute to Father’s Day: Ten Unforgettable Celluloid Dads By Geoff Carter (Originally published June 12th, 2023) It’s that time of year when we’re once again celebrating the patriarch, the pater familia, the big man, the king daddy, and the head of the family. It’s Father’s Day. Master of the grill, …
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Kickass and Father’s Day
Attribution: Photo by Steve DiMatteo on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes on a few Father’s Day words to the keeper and all human fathers: “You know how you qualified for the “father” title with all of its perks and pleasures, and how you were not really tallying such things up at that precise moment. …
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Kickass and the Book Launch
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis fresh off their full-house book launch of Ah, the Women! the keeper’s new novel about women saving the world from the bullish outrages of men. The friendly Vista West crowd did not throw any ripe fruit or demand the keeper’s immediate …
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Kickass and “Ah, The Women!”
Attribution: Image by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be napping today as the keeper and Phyllis conduct a book launch in the Vista West community room for Ah, the Women!, Bill’s latest novel about women taking over the world to save it from the outrageousness of the male libido. 1:30 …
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