Attribution: Photo by Ashwin Vaswani on Unsplash Farewell to a great humanitarian and man of the people…
Month:April 2025
Kickass and Listening
Attribution: Quirinale.it, Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, lives with the burden of the keeper’s inclination to talk when he should be listening, and notes that this is one morning for everyone to listen: “We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a …
Read
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “The White Lotus”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Ugly Americans: Review of The White Lotus ★★★1/2 By Geoff Carter We’ve seen it all before. Privileged Americans come to an exclusive resort and find fun—and murder, jealousy, sex, and decadence—all of which makes for great TV. This, of course, is the formula for the wildly successful MAX show The White Lotus, …
Read
Kickass and the Easter Pig
Attribution: Becproud, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper awoke on this Easter Sunday anticipating the feast to come–ham by son Mike, Saskatoon berry pie by Phyllis, and appetizers by the keeper and neighbors Hester and Larry. In his aimless salivating and boundless cultural confusion, the …
Read
Happy Easter from The Pen in Hand
Easter in the City Photos by Geoff Carter
Kickass and Old North Church
Attribution: Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes the keeper and Phyllis joining in the 250thanniversary celebration of Paul Revere’s famous ride, and the keeper remembering when he traveled the country in doing a bicentennial series for the Milwaukee Journal and talked a young sexton into …
Read
Kickass and Good Friday
Attribution: Photo by Dewang Gupta on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in embracing this GOOD Friday of 2025 in the literal sense and simply agreeing with everyone that it is GOOD to be here. And if that is felt with a bit more conviction in their age group it is …
Read
Kickass and Rabbit Eggs
Attribution: Photo by Zachariah Smith on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, in his unwavering efforts to keep the keeper at least as relevant as bathroom tissue, hears him as he asks the following burning question: If the rabbits were able to wrest the Easter egg extravaganza away from the chickens is there nothing they wouldn’t …
Read
Out of Order
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter “What do you call ten thousand lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?” –“A good start.” “What do you throw to a drowning lawyer?” –“His partners.” All right, all right. I’ll stop, but people tell these jokes for a reason. They hit a nerve. We’ve all watched the …
Read
Kickass and Old Protests
Attribution: uwdigitalcollections, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, tries not to get in the way as Phyllis and friends work out an introduction to the city bus system so they can get to the Capitol for such things as political demonstrations. The keeper, in the meantime retreats to a …
Read
Kickass and the IRS
Attribution: https://www.irs.gov/, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, noting that it is “Tax Day” offers to eat the following note the keeper was planning to send to the IRS: “Hi Tax folks: “If you have not yet been fired or downsized to outhouse dimensions by the chainsaw hole-diggers, let …
Read
Kickass and Model T Coils
Attribution: dave_7 from Lethbridge, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes with the keeper and Phyllis that occasionally there will be a Facebook post that sends one or the other of them hurtling back through the decades. Such was the case for the keeper when the Model T …
Read