Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis stopped for a drop-in visit with old friends Mary and Jerry at their wonderful place on the edge of Mazomanie with its big garden, repair shed, chicken yard, lush flowers, big trees and friendly dogs. For many years, …
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Month:October 2024
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: The Strange Staying Power of “My Cousin Vinny”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Some movies are unexpectedly, inexplicably, and unbelievably popular. It’s obvious how classics like White Christmas, Hocus Pocus, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and The Wizard of Oz have become beloved holiday traditions, but who would have predicted that The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Eraserhead, Pink Flamingoes, or Napolean Dynamite would become cult classics? Or that …
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Kickass and the Irate Trumper
Attribution: Erik Ogan, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, hands off to the keeper for the report of an “eating-out-with-a-Trumper” adventure as reported to him by son Rick and daughter-in-law Becky. The scene is a popular area night club with booths separated by partitions. The conversation in Rick and …
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Kickass and Hunting
Attribution: Photo by Daniel J. Schwarz on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper accepts his “predator” identification and recalls how he enjoyed exercising it over decades of hunting birds and animals, especially at this time of year when he wallowed in the beautiful transition of the seasons with weapon in hand and …
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Kickass and October 11, 1940
Attribution: markbyzewski, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, under the impression that the keeper had a memory for all occasions, is disappointed that he has no specific recall of Oct. 11, 1940, a day that began with warm shirtsleeve weather and turned into a vicious blizzard across the upper …
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Kickass Remembers Siesta Key
Attribution: National Weather Service/NOAA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, gives the keeper space to remember his long-ago snowbird days when Sarasota and Siesta key were exciting winter destinations. The keeper’s lifelong pal Al and wife Pat lived there as anchor hosts. Other friends assembled for beach fun while the …
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Tainted Love
Attribution: The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter Republican J.D. Vance says it is his love of country that informs his vision of America. When accepting the nomination as Donald Trump’s running mate at the Republican National Convention, he said (referring to himself, his running mate Donald Trump, …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to Hiding Under the Bed: The Spookiest Halloween Movies of All Time
Photo by Skyler Sawyer on Unsplash By Geoff Carter (Originally published on October 31, 2020) I grew up in the sixties and seventies, in what might be called the golden age of the horror movie. Not only were we able to see films The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Scream and Scream Again at the drive-in theater, but every Saturday afternoons we …
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Kickass and the Future
Attribution: Balise42, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s observation that it is the misfortune of the human race to have the ability to know what is coming, weatherwise, war wise and behaviorally by humans; and to try to plan and act accordingly. Here is how …
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Kickass and Good News
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, does what he can to help the keeper and Phyllis sort through the daily mishmash of bad and infuriating news in search of something positive and uplifting. Those efforts were rewarded big time yesterday with confirmation from Dr. Rose at the UW’s Carbone Cancer center …
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Kickass and the Numbers
Attribution: Alberto Alvim, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that at a recent social gathering of Vista West neighbors, the keeper and Bernard had a little talk about “THE NUMBER,” Bernard’s being 95 and the keeper’s 93. After some discussion as to how those numbers came about—some genetic …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Wolfs”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Bad Buddies: Review of Wolfs ★★★☆☆ There is a lot to like in Jon Watts’ new film Wolfs. In many ways, it’s like curling up in the family room recliner. It’s familiar, comfortable, and reassuring. It features well-known actors in roles we’ve seen them in before; it is a genre we’re familiar …
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