Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, would see the keeper’s memory bank in the form of a landfill, except that it predates such garbage-handling progress and goes back to the days of rat-infested dumps where anything could be deposited to …
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Month:June 2022
Kickass and Naked Gardening
Tainted Fruit, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, having successfully assisted Phyllis in negotiating “Naked Gardening Day” back in May, is offering his help as “Naked Bike Riding Day” is followed by “Naked Hiking Day,” marking activities that Phyllis once participated in—fully clothed, of course. …
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New Wave Cinema 2.0: The Films of Martin Scorsese
Siebbi, CC BY 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 filmic stylings and compelling narratives have stretched the boundaries of modern cinema. Referencing Francois Truffaut’s definition of an auteur, these pieces …
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Kickass and Father’s Day Leftovers
Koburg, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in a Father’s Day leftover that cites the area of useless things fathers taught their offspring; in the keeper’s case that would be harnessing a team of work horses, which was, of course not useless at the time, the keeper …
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Kickass and Father’s Day
Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that if the book of fathers is ever written, its title should be something like “Flying on Empty” or maybe “Brain Surgery Using Chopsticks,” pointing to the verity that no father in history has ever had a complete grasp of just …
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Kickass and POOF
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, having something of an ancestral history with packs, understands the keeper’s desire to form a pack to counter the inane “Proud Boys” pack now emerging as the lead hyenas in the Jan. 6 democracy herd take-down attempt. Recently freed from the burden of feeling …
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Kickass and Fruit Fly Travel
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper’s Covid timeout has enhanced his efforts to see his recent mountains/glacier travels with Phyllis in a more natural context, perhaps like that of a couple of fruit flies emerging from nowhere to seek some of life’s vague sweetness. If there …
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Kickass and Covid Quarantine
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the Covid isolation for the keeper and Phyllis is going as well as that sort of thing can go: the keeper defines it as waiting for “green” at one of life’s arbitrary traffic lights; Phyllis fills the waiting time with soup-making and …
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Prime Time
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter I’m old enough to remember when the Watergate hearings aired in May of 1973. The Senate had established the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities to uncover unlawful activities—including the Watergate break-in—during the 1972 presidential campaign. Of course, thanks to the incredible investigative reporting at the Washington Post, …
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Kickass and Getting Home
Kevin Halstead from Chicago, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, awaiting his lifetime award for hanging with the keeper through thick and thin—thinner and thinnest, reports that he—the keeper, and Phyllis are using some of Wisconsin’s natural attributes to assist them through the Covid isolation that followed their …
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Kickass and Travel Escapades
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, apologizes for tardiness in reporting the latest in the travel escapades of the keeper and Phyllis, but there were unforeseen developments that threw everything off kilter: They are finally back home after a harrowing escape from Canada during which border officials confiscated yet one …
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New Wave Cinema 2.0: The Films of Quentin Tarantino
pinguino k (original), Gryllida (crop), CC BY 2.0, 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 filmic stylings and compelling narratives have stretched the boundaries of modern cinema. Drawing upon Francois Truffaut’s definition …
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