Attribution: WellingtonM, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, naps through the keeper’s account of losing his wallet during an evening outing with his good friend Harry Peterson. The keeper was sure he had left the wallet in the back seat of Harry’s car, which, it turned out had not …
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Month:September 2023
Kickass and Four Sons
Attribution: Photo by Ben White on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that if there is one thing the keeper taught his four sons it was the virtue of procrastination, so they will be fine with the keeper dealing late with “sons’ day.” Raising four sons during the long-hair hippy days, when the abject stupidity …
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Harvest of Friends
Artwork by Micheal DiMilo By Geoff Carter Last February, the historic first meeting of our Tomato Club commenced in the backroom of the Waterford Wine Company. Snow was on the ground, the temperature was below freezing, and spring was nowhere in sight, yet that didn’t stop us from bringing our seed catalogs, our ideas, our …
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Kickass Goes to a Play
Attribution: AlexanderUtz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper joined Roger Howard as guests of Harry Peterson at last night’s American Players Theatre production of “The Royale,” and is now qualified to make the following comments: *Playwrights like Marco Ramirez use awesome talent and tools to …
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Monkey in the Middle
Attribution: United States Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Mark Mamerow If you’ve followed the current government shutdown imbroglio, you’re aware that it is happening because the far right Freedom Caucus is blackmailing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The nihilistic, burn-it-all-down down faction of the House GOP has McCarthy in a bind. It’s unclear exactly what …
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Kickass and Downhill Cot
Attribution: Michel, Carl, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, allows the keeper a memory exercise that takes him back to his arrival on the UW campus fresh out of a three-year Army stint that included a year of Korean combat duty where sleeping in trenches and bunkers was the …
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Kickass and Mr. Fixit
Attribution: Photo by jesse orrico on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that the keeper’s attitude throughout his life has been that he could fix most anything using improvised parts, innate dexterity, sharp eyes and resistance to being part of the throw-it-away-and-buy-a-new-one cultural mindset. So when the bedroom reading lamp developed a switch problem, it …
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Kickass and Game of Fetch
Attribution: Photo by Rob Fuller on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, has engaged the keeper’s help in totally shutting down the game of “fetch” as played by dogs and people. As symbolic of activity so stupid as to compete with voters going to the polls in “big-money-bought elections, “fetch’s” success depends on a number of …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Bingeworthy
Attribution: Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash Bingeworthy: The Ten Best Cable and Streaming TV Series By Geoff Carter Just this week, the one of the oldest and most distinguished movie theaters in my city closed. The Downer Theater, part of the Landmark theater chain that originally began as a showcase for independent and arthouse films, has …
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Kickass at Indian Lake
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Photo by Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, noting that under the rubric that everybody gotta be somewhere, reports the keeper and Phyllis in one of Dane County’s more striking beauty spots: Indian Lake County Park off Highway 19. Marking the location where the last glacier gave up …
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Kickass and the First Day of Fall
Attribution: Lorrie777, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in celebrating the 2023 first day of fall by joining others to do some book promo at the Waunakee Library, after which they will cruise the countryside for signs of the season while congratulating each other …
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Kickass and Oldest/Youngest
Attribution: Bruce Tuten from Savannah, Georgia, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that after the keeper reported on the lunch that he and Phyllis enjoyed with 103-year-old Hilda and 99-year-old Sally, there has been some interest by others to join the next lunch meeting so they …
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