Attribution: MGM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper mysteriously linked into the following e-mail exchange. ICE field agent: “We took him into custody at the Statue of Liberty. He had a chain saw and a barn shovel and claimed to be the POTUS fresh from having …
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Month:October 2025
Who Cares?
Attribution: Chad Davis., CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter Last Saturday, the nationwide No Kings rally, composed of over 2600 separate demonstrations spread across all fifty states, took place. Over seven million people showed up to protest the Trump administration. Massive demonstrations in Boston, Chicago, New York City, and other major cities topped …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to Horror Films: The Next Generation
Attribution: Photo by Daniel on Unsplash By Geoff Carter (Revised October 22, 2025) The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting longer, and there’s a chill in the air. Frost is on the pumpkin. The leaves are turning color. All this means one thing—Halloween is just around the corner. And that means horror movies. Lots of them. …
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Kickass and Nude Beach Play
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper is reminded by the cool weather of the time he and his granddaughter Sarah co-authored, produced and presented “Naked at Amazo,” a three-act play, making the point that the nude beach on the nearby Wisconsin River was an insulting detriment to …
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Kickass and NO KINGS Women
Photos by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, as a “No Kings” observer, reports the keeper closeted in his sophisticated analytical lab trying to put meaning to the fact that there were many more women than men among the seven million “No Kings” participants. In the keeper’s personal case, Phyllis and her …
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Kickass and Alaska Living
Attribution: Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis harboring warm feelings about Alaska with its embrace of nature and its frontier character. It comes up in breakfast conversations as a possible place to go and hide from the …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Steve”
School Daze: Movie Review of Steve ★★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter The film industry has always been fascinated with the classroom. There is a long history of school-based movies going all the way back to Blackboard Jungle, Up the Down Staircase, and To Sir, With Love and extending to more recent offerings like Lean on Me, Stand …
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Kickass and a Dog’s View of No Kings
Attribution: Alisdare Hickson from Canterbury, United Kingdom, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be assuming commentary duty from the keeper and Phyllis this rainy morning and pronouncing judgement on yesterday’s “No Kings” activity from the dogs’ point of view. “Well, that was fun! “Like a joyous romp at …
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Kickass and the Weather
Attribution: freddie marriage fredmarriage, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper being suddenly put in charge of the weather by Phyllis and her fellow Silver Badgers as they join the multitudes of “No Kings” protestors this afternoon along Gammon Road at Tree Lane. Defying the old adage that …
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Kickass and Demonstrators
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper will have the “Damn Mad Badger” on a short leash Saturday as Phyllis and hundreds of her fellow Silver Badgers line Gammon Road near Tree Lane on Madison’s westside as part of the national “No Kings” demonstration. 3-4 p.m. Lots …
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Kickass at Age 43 and 94
Attribution: Reinhold Möller, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper rummaging up a clipping from the Feb. 3, 1974 issue of he Sunday Milwaukee Journal in which he went on at great length about how being an “old person” is a particular hell due to the ways …
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Hitting Home
Attribution: Paul Goyette from Chicago, USA, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter After America somehow reelected a man who fomented a rebellion in an attempt to overturn the government, the last nine months have seemed unreal, like some sort of nightmare—an incessantly recurring nightmare. Terrible things are happening. Innocent American citizens are being …
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