Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s judgement that as birthdays go, number 10 is about as good as they get, and he bases this on the occasion of great grandson Tyler’s 10th birthday party out at Becky and Beau’s Mazomanie home on a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon. …
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Month:September 2024
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of “I Saw the TV Glow”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo The Road to Nowhere: Film Review of I Saw the TV Glow ★★★☆☆ By Geoff Carter Films about teen angst have been with us forever and have taken on as many iterations as there are film genres. There are vampire flicks like the Twilight series, psychological studies like Ladybird, thrillers like Elephant, and horror …
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Kickass and Sports Fans
Attribution: Richard Hurd from Leland, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes, after hearing of a recent Badger football loss, that being a sports fan has evolutionary identity with well-fed human predecessors sitting up on the safe limbs while watching the meaningless machinations of young wildebeests, zebras and …
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Kickass and Sleeping Fish
Attribution: Pos, Robert H, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog reports that on one of his “past patrols” the keeper recalled the days when newspaper make-up was done by hand, by linotype operators who used innocuous filler items to lock in a page for …
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Kickass and Florida Trade
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s news that several deals between Wisconsin and Florida have been delayed by hurricane Helene, one being the exchange of Fla. Gov. DeSantis for Wis Sen. Johnson, and another having to do with a trainload of Fla. oranges for one of …
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Kickass and Helene
Attribution: SSEC/CIMSS, University of Wisconsin–Madison (Attribution or Attribution), via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s note to hurricane Helene as it prepares to mark its Florida territory using a crude canine method: “Dear Helene: It is not necessary for you to claim Florida as your very own since nobody …
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The Fascist Cookbook
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter I grew up during the late sixties and early seventies when youth counterculture was king. Rock and roll, pot, LSD, free love, and political activism were all part of the scene. The country was sharply divided along political lines—just as it is now. Protests and clashes, sometimes violent, …
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Kickass and Divisiveness
Attribution: DrunkDriver, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that as the keeper and Phyllis do their best to heed advice to associate with those who might hold contrary political views, all in the interest of reducing divisiveness, they experience times when such activity becomes more of a challenge …
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Kickass and Shirley’s Death
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper respectfully puts aside all the concerns and comments of the day to bid goodbye to Shirley, his brother Orville’s wife who died yesterday after an incredible life of selfless compassion for all living things. Shirley’s lifelong efforts on behalf of …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: A Celebration of Latin American Cinema
Attribution: TSolange, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons The Magic of Latin American Cinema By Geoff Carter We are in the midst of National Hispanic Heritage Month. From September 15th to October 15th, we will be celebrating the contributions of generations of Hispanic Americans. Hispanic influenced art, architecture, literature, and poetry have enriched the lives of every …
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Kickass and Bird Migration
Attribution: David Whelan, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis, forever attempting to establish their compatibility with the other creatures, woke up this morning of Sept. 23 with a strange sense of motion that they could not identify until they tuned in to the Cornell …
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Kickass and Morning Storm
Attribution: Photo by Kevin Schmid on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis were awakened by the pre-dawn thunderstorm that came grumbling in like a love-hunting tomcat, hissing at the windows, rattling thunder at the darkness and moving on to new territory with the magnificent indifference of thunderstorms and tomcats. Photo …
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