Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper recruited the photo artistry of Phyllis in updating the “baby bump” photo of five years ago when he posed with “expecting” granddaughter in-laws Lindsey, Ari and Becky; with the keeper’s “bump” indicating at the time that he might be pregnant …
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Month:March 2024
Kickass and Organ Recitals
Attribution: OpenStax College, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be assisting the keeper in promoting his conversation guide for seniors in an effort to put limits on lengthy “organ recitals,” like the one at a recent lunch table with Phyllis, Jane and Donna. (The winning recital had to …
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Grumpy Old Men
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter We are presently living through one of the strangest times in American history. Four years ago, we survived a deadly pandemic and global lockdown. Just three years ago, a mob—instigated by a sitting president—tried to overthrow the 2020 presidential election. Our political institutions, the mainstream media, and justice …
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Kickass and Being 48
Attribution: Stadtarchiv Kiel , CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper asked his and Phyllis’s fellow Vista West residents at a social gathering to comment on something from their lives from when they were 48 years old. Amazingly, it turns out that many people denied ever …
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Kickass and Birdwatching
Attribution: John Gerrard Keulemans , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is unable to stop the keeper from taking on impossible missions and so it was that when he—the keeper heard about Peter Kaestner traveling to the Philippines to see an orange tufted spider hunter to become the 10,000th bird he …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “The Crime is Mine”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo A Guilty Party: Film Review of The Crime is Mine By Geoff Carter Whodunit? Or should we be asking who cares? In Francois Ozon’s raucous comedy The Crime is Mine, the question is less of a mystery than it is an opportunity for fortune and notoriety. Combining the best elements of French …
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Kickass and Weather Talk
Attribution: National Weather Service / National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration / Storm Prediction Center, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes along with the keeper that a communication that resorts to the weather as subject matter is a clear indication of a relationship in trouble, attempts to avoid a …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: The Best of Irish Cinema
Artwork by Michael DiMilo The Pen in Hand’s Top Ten St. Patrick’s Day Movies By Geoff Carter It’s that time of year again, that special day of days set aside to celebrate the joy of being Irish. Green beer, corned beef sandwiches, the wearing of the green, The Chieftains spinning on your turntable, and a …
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Kickass and Birthday Open House
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be assisting the keeper today as he sponsors a St. Pat’s birthday open house for Phyllis who was born on March 16 some years ago in Canada and frequently threatens to go back there given the current flow of US political “news.” Phyllis …
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Kickass and Birthdays
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in assuming the awesome responsibility of helping Phyllis and great-granddaughter Margaux celebrate simultaneous birthdays while not ignoring St. Patrick’s Day. It was a triple threat challenge that seemed to invite the simple solution of a keg of green beer. But there …
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Kickass and the Bad Driver
Attribution: DaleHulm, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has a question for the driver on Mineral Point Road who apparently disagreed with the reasonable interval the keeper was maintaining with the driver ahead of him and roared around the keeper to cut in front and …
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The Nine Black Riders
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter In J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy masterpiece The Lord of the Rings, the evil lord Sauron’s minions include the nine dark riders, known as the Ringwraiths or Nazgul, former men who have been seduced by the corrupt power of the one ring who would rule them all and turned into …
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