Mrbeastmodeallday, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s observation that humans are the only species that “packs”—and needs to, in preparation for travel, as he and Phyllis get ready for their train/ship tour of mountains and glaciers. With all other species, when they decide to go somewhere, they simply …
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Month:May 2022
Kickass and Travel Reasons
Sbork, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper likes to stress that he–and Phyllis are no more than extreme examples of the natural world run amuck, and their activities are dictated by forces as naturally explainable as why a squirrel buries nuts, or a bird migrates; …
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Kickass and Walmart Funeral
Walmart Corporate from Bentonville, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s observation that Walmart is apparently having difficulty recruiting pallbearers for its own retail funeral, judging from the lack of staffing at a store where the keeper stood in a long line to buy some …
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The Lost Generations
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Traditional wisdom used to have it that every generation should be better off than that of their parents. On the surface, that idea seems to make perfect sense. Historically, advances in technology, medicine, communication, and transportation have translated into healthier and more prosperous lifestyles for subsequent generations. This …
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Kickass and Railroad Trip
Great Northern Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, cautions the keeper not to assume that National Railroad Day is being celebrated this week just because he and Phyllis plan to board a train Sunday in Columbus as the start of a three-week excursion that includes a boat ride …
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Kickass and Bags of Dog Poop
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, through a long history of sharing his life with dogs, had never experienced the responsibility of walking a leashed dog and picking up its bodily waste as if it were a treasure, however a temporary one. Always before there were fenced …
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Kickass and Dog Sitting Boo
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis will be dog sitting Boo this week as granddaughter Sarah and Jessy vacate their Chicago digs for some Wisconsin recreating. Boo, a miniature schnauzer with attitude, is 13 years old, and once lived in Mazomanie with the keeper and …
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New Wave Cinema 2.0: The Films of Jim Jarmusch
Michael Schilling, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter In The New Wave 2.0 series, The Pen in Hand Blog will be examining the work of today’s most provocative and influential filmmakers, artists whose singular visual styles and visionary genius have stretched the boundaries of cinema. Drawing upon Francois Truffaut’s definition of an auteur, …
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Kickass and Great Day in Madison
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the door stop dog, notes that Saturday was one of those days in Madison when the keeper and his ilk celebrated the sheer joy of being alive: proms, graduations, photo sessions beneath blossoming trees, strolls down State Street, uncles in wrinkled shirts, beautiful young women in long …
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Kickass and Screaming Trout
Pacific Southwest Region USFWS from Sacramento, US, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper sometimes gets behind in adjusting to the flow of information; and is currently struggling with the speculation that humans do not have a monopoly on consciousness, meaning that other species—fish, for example, …
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Kickass and Steel Magnolias
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, like the keeper, comfortably acknowledges the “steel magnolia” character of women when it comes to running things, certainly the functioning of their own bodies as well as the absurd place of narcissistic males in such matters as reproduction and war. Affirmation came recently when the …
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UnMother’s Day
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter We celebrated Mother’s Day just this past Sunday. As described in Heather Cox Richardson’s piece (Letters From An American: May 7, 2022), Mothers’ Day was originally intended as a day for war-weary American mothers to voice their disapproval of the politicians that had sent their sons off to …
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