Kevin C Chen, CC BY-SA 2.0 TW, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in watching an occasional snowflake waft down from a cloudless sky as snowplow and sanding vehicles patrol the cold morning streets like giant predators. In doing an anthropomorphic cartwheel, the keeper gives voice to the slowing …
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Month:January 2022
Kickass and Eating Sandhill Cranes
Dori, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in passing along word that the Wisconsin legislature sets a sterling example of how to relax in the face of extreme duress as it responds to Sen. Mary Felzkowski’s recent invitation to gather in her office to enjoy sandhill …
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Sinking
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter In the last couple weeks, spring seed catalogs have been starting to appear in the mailbox. This is usually the time to start thinking about spring and planning the garden, but it’s the middle of winter. Nights are long, cold, and bleak. Imagining a green and bountiful backyard …
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Kickass and Capitol Hot Air
USCapitol, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in watching the clouds of condensing hot air expelled by Madison Gas and Electric as it wafts over the distant State Capitol in the early morning; and he—the keeper, sees the symbolic absurdity of a money-dominated, minority-responsive government composed …
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Kickass and High Speed Rail to Nigeria
vige, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper hopes to ride Wisconsin’s high-speed train—from Madison to Nigeria as soon as the Repubs get the rails down, which is being done by a company headed by Scott Walker who, as Wisconsin governor, …
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Kickass Visits Old Haunts
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis visited their previous haunts in Mazomanie to find that a traffic light now makes things easier where the keeper once spent long moments waiting to cross Highway 14 to get to such places as the “Base Camp” restaurant, …
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The Couch Potato’s Guide to the New Hollywood: The Legacy of Leonardo DiCaprio
See Li, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter He has been called one of the greatest movie stars of his generation, which he is, but more that, Leonardo DiCaprio is an artist who has chosen to be more than just a pretty face. From his early work, including his spectacular portrayal of the …
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Kickass and Tracks in the Snow
Collinsalex2, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s recent exercise of his—the keeper’s, boundless powers of observation and deduction; enough, certainly, that if he had so chosen, he could have been another Sherlock Holmes, or at least a Columbo. (It is not necessary …
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Kickass as a Movie Critic
Photo by Geoffrey Moffett on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that the keeper’s movie-critic qualifications should limit him to commenting on spaghetti westerns, especially when the rancher’s daughter exchanges her dad for some “all hat” bronc rider. This dearth of qualifications is ignored, however, after the keeper and Phyllis watched the …
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Kickass and the Moment Poem
Photo by Laura Baker on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper abandons his most recent Phyllis-conditioned fling at poetry: Winter moment. Snow sifting down, Seasoning The gray cold. Then gone, No trace, No tracks. But it was there, And so were we: Together– In that moment; “Come again, “And again, “And …
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Kickass and Old Black Joe
Stephen Foster, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis occasionally share the songs from their distant past when one or the other of them sings a fragment of lyrics and the other then joins in to make for a duet that frequently breaks down …
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Kickass With His Own Eyes
Tyler Merbler from USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, having researched the growing inclination of people to put their own spin on things they see “with their own eyes,” suggests that in the interest of lessening the political divide, the following be accepted as …
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