Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Cruel to Be Kind: Film Review of Kinds of Kindness ★★★★☆ Yorgos Lanthimos creates films that balance on a razor’s edge between pain and pleasure. They are generally funny—sometimes wincingly so—but can be extremely difficult to watch. They can be as labyrinthine as the Villa Pisani, as puzzling …
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Month:September 2024
Kickass and Roundy
Attribution: Marjory Collins , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes the keeper’s efforts to do something for the sports fans by resurrecting parts of a “Roundy Says” Wis, State Journal column from Aug. 1, 1968: “I see Coach Bengtson of Packers will use the short pass to Travis Williams …
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Kickass and Minnesota Grudge
Attribution: Lorie Shaull, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, who grew up in the shadow of Minnesota, was going for the record in grudge holding against the gopher state over the Minneapolis student nurse who threw him over for a medical intern as the keeper …
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Kickass Takes Day Off
Attribution: VOA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper in pawing through possible subject matter on this day of Sept. 5, 2024 noted the following: Two teachers and two students dead in Georgia school shooting. Four shot to death while sleeping on the Chicago El. Fresh …
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Fraying Around the Edges
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter The 2024 presidential cycle has been a season of heady highs and abysmal lows. To call it an emotional roller coaster is like saying Tom Brady was an okay quarterback. From the lingering despair surrounding Joe Biden’s horrible debate performance, his subsequent withdrawal, Kamala Harris’ dizzying rise in …
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Kickass and Walking to School
Attribution: Don O’Brien from Piketon, Ohio, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, accompanies the keeper as he walks the mile and a half to the country school. Up Swans hill and past the fields where big-eared jackrabbits sometimes leaped from hiding and loped off like dancers. Feeling …
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Kickass and Windshield Survey
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis are on deck this post Labor Day weekend with the results of a state-of-the-state report based on an extensive central Wisconsin windshield survey. *Rain needed–Corn and bean fields showing distress with pointed and discolored leaves. *Trees peaking out …
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Kickass Returns to the Water
Attribution: Jules Verne Times Two, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, shares the keeper’s observation that the evidence that we all once crawled up out of the water and are anxious to get back there was on full display at Tim and Cyndy’s Lake Wisconsin Cottage and thousands of …
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Happy Labor Day from The Pen in Hand Blog: Union Strong
There is Strength in Solidarity…
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Logan Lucky”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Oceans 7 Eleven: Review of Logan Lucky ★★★☆☆ By Geoff Carter One of the benefits of streaming TV is access to lesser known independent, international, and obscure films. I like to try and keep up with the latest, but movies like A Ghost Story, Gueros, Problemista, El Conde, and Hit Man would have flown …
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Kickass Greets September 1st, 2024
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, assists the keeper and Phyllis in presenting the start of Sept. 1, 2024 as viewed over Wisconsin’s Capitol. It shows promise of being yet another great day. Aren’t they all! Photo by Bill Stokes See more at… The Bill Stokes Author Page