Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the following real-life drama: SCENE: Front stoop of average home. Doorbell rings. Home-owner answers to find a mouse on the front step. HOMEOWNER: “What can I do for you?” MOUSE: “I hear you need a squeaker of the house.” HOMEOWNER: “That would be …
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Month:October 2023
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of Wes Anderson’s “Poison”
Attribution: Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash Silent and Deadly: Review of Wes Anderson’s Poison R. Soedirman, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter In the last feature of Wes Anderson’s film anthology of four Roald Dahl short stories produced for Netflix, he creates a tense and gripping suspense tale about a man trapped in his …
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Kickass as a Stupefier
Attribution: Dr. Philip Bethge, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, sympathizes with the keeper in his distress over being genetically excluded from the migrators and the hibernators and classified as a “stupefier” as major seasonal changes are about to occur. Birds with brains the size of peas are fleeing …
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Kickass and Fall Colors
Attribution: Photo by Dave Hoefler on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in updating their relationship to trees as they rode across the state with Gina and Steve for a Phyllis family reunion, remarkable for its lack of fisticuffs and shouting and its surplus of food and drink. As much as …
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Kickass Updates Photo
Attribution: Peter Paul Rubens , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, understands the desire of the keeper and Phyllis to stay current with friends by updating their profile image, and therefore offers the attached as an update. It shows them on a recent visit to the Vilas Park Zoo, and though …
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Dialogues on Springtime for Stalin: Hollywood Goes to Moscow
Attribution: See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Dave S., Mark M., Mark O., Dennis C., Paul C., and Geoff Carter I read the Stalin synopsis below after reading the above piece on a lowly PR Russian—Vladimir Medinsky who is credited with Putin’s success—great visual I thought. Who …
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Kickass Builds an Ark
Attribution: Simon de Myle , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, aware of the keeper’s frequent misguided missions, has some doubt about his current project of building an ark as being the only possible solution to world circumstances. While it is only in the planning stage, the keeper would use …
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The Brat Pack
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter When the toy store Toys “R” Us was still around, I popped into one nearby on a Saturday afternoon to look for a present for a nephew, who was about to celebrate his ninth birthday. I went by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle stuff, the Nintendo stuff, and …
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Kickass and House on the Bus
Attribution: 3atbulletz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, accepts the keeper’s image of the House of Reps as passengers on a runaway bus careening through switchbacks as it hurtles down the side of a steep mountain. “Who’s driving?” “Nobody.” “What about the orange man, wasn’t he driving?” “He still …
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Kickass Interviews Gerry Mander
Artwork: “Money Badger” by Michael DiMilo By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in incredulity that no member of the press has interviewed GerryMander, considering that after he was put in place by big money, places like Wisconsin became brothels for narcissistic “Johns” with perverted ideas about how to have their way …
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Kickass and Sisters
Attribution: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons / “Vancouver (BC, Canada), Canada Place, Kanadaflagge — 2022 — 1896” / CC BY-SA 4.0 By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is happy to report that the visit of Phyllis’s Canadian sister Joan and husband Bill, was judged by the keeper as a success in that all of the sister’s numerous family members were discussed and …
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Kickass on October 16, 2023
Attribution: Photo by zenad nabil on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis as they make the following observations on Monday morning Oct.16, 2023: *The sun came up at 7:13 in Madison, WI, though nobody saw it for the clouds. *The yellow-coated crossing guard at Gammon and Tree La took up his …
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