The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Fly Me to the Moon”

Illustration by Michael DiMilo Lassoing the Moon: Film Review of Fly Me to the Moon ★★★☆☆ By Geoff Carter To be honest, I’m a little tired of movies that reflect reality—mostly because I’m exhausted by today’s reality. It has nothing to do with the quality of the films, but seeing dystopian flicks like Civil War, The …
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Dialogues on MAGA Economics: A Tariffying Spectacle

Illustration by Michael DiMilo Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Dave S., Mark M., Mark O., Dennis C., and Geoff Carter Good am, members of the resistance:   Comms channel: reminder to follow protocols and scramble all correspondences.  Idea for political cartoon: Then and now axis of evil.   Trying to understand how tariffs might trickle down, not just …
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Kickass Welcomes April 13th

Attribution: Photo by Daiga Ellaby on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in welcoming the day:  “Hello April 13, 2025! “It is great to have you whatever you are–at the moment a bit hazy and overcast.  “We know the feeling and assure you that burning off the haze and getting to …
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Kickass Asks Questions

Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, has never eaten anyone’s homework nor chewed the cover off a banned book, but he is volunteering to assist the keeper and Phyllis in dealing with their current list of outrageous questions which includes the following:             *Is there no stopping the utter madness of …
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Kickass and Sixth Anniversary

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, cheers on the keeper and Phyllis as they celebrate their 6th wedding anniversary with a Vietnamese dinner at Pho Nam where Phyllis drank from a coconut and the keeper demonstrated anew that he will never master eating noodles using chopsticks. In their Vista West crowd, …
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Wisconsin Strong

Photo by Geoff Carter By Geoff Carter I’m a Wisconsinite, born and raised. I’m usually pretty proud of that. Not always, but usually. We’ve had our missteps and our black sheep, but generally Wisconsin does the right thing.  I’m especially proud of the progressive traditions and stubborn idealism evident in our state.  Just last week, in …
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Kickass and Mallard Invader

Attribution: Commonists, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that as the keeper and Phyllis and a roomful of other Vista West residents were gathered for a “Happy hour” meeting Tuesday afternoon there was an attempt by an outsider to invade the premises via a backdoor. Approaching through the …
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Kickass and Ambulance Call

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that the keeper and Phyllis live five floors over the entrance of Vista West where they look down at the parking circle used by the frequent emergency vehicles. There is one there now, an ambulance that came howling off Gilbert Road with red …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Civil War”

Illustration by Michael DiMilo Life During Wartime: Review of Civil War ★★★☆☆ By Geoff Carter Civil War is a hard film—although not as hard as some—to pigeonhole. It’s a war movie, it’s a road movie, it’s a political thriller, it’s a journalism movie, and a (sort of) post-apocalyptic film. It also might be argued that it …
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