The Ten Best New Year’s Eve Films Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash By Geoff Carter We’re almost there. We only have one more day of 2025 to endure. Thank God. It’s been a year of firsts. There’s a few we would like to celebrate, others not so much. But New Year’s Eve is a time to look forward …
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Month:December 2025
Kickass and Hi-Tech
Attribution: Photo by phyo min on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, endorses the keeper’s New Year’s resolution that he will never again complain about the abuse continually bestowed on him, and Phyllis, by the ever-changing tech world. With the subject of tech torture eliminated from the flow of the keeper’s communicating, expect more observations about …
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Kickass and Canadian Visitors
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that the keeper, being married to Canadian-born Phyllis, feels a special concern with the word out of Canada that the Canadians are through visiting the US due to it having been taken over by the gang that couldn’t shoot straight, especially on 5th Avenue. …
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Kickass and Dead Zoo
Attribution: René Cortin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper’s recall of the starvation zoo story that never became a news story because the culprit was an acquaintance of the publisher of The Wisconsin State Journal where the keeper was employed. The zoo owner’s plan had been …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Train Dreams”
Lost in the Woods: Movie Review of Train Dreams ★★★★ By Geoff Carter Illustration by Michael DiMilo Some movies are plot-driven and action-packed narratives that grab you by the collar and pull you through heart-stopping adventures without ever letting go. Raiders of the Lost Ark, Predator, and Die Hard (a Christmas movie? The debate rages on) are prime examples …
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Kickass Milks the Cows
Attribution: Harris & Ewing, photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Common By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper offering to teach the ICE agents how to milk cows, a skill that heretofore had been performed by those who were more recent immigrants than all the rest of us and who needed to lay …
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Kickass and a Dog’s Life
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis driving a hundred miles with two young passengers to be part of a Phyllis family Christmas gathering at which a gifting game was played, great food was served by Alexis and Jerad and introductions were made to their chickens, …
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Kickass Goes South
Attribution: Florida Memory, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that for many years the keeper would be using these post-holiday days to return his Christmas gifts for cash he could use to buy enough gas to get the hell out of Wisconsin and far enough south to go …
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Kickass and Christmas Accident
Attribution: Photo by Norman Tsui on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, looks over the keeper’s shoulder as he and Phyllis view the tragic Christmas morning news under the headline: “SANTA MISSING AFTER SLEIGH CRASHES INTO NONEXISTENT WHITE HOUSE WING.” The unredacted story followed. “In what witnesses described as a terrible accident, Rudolph, using misinformation from elf …
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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from The Pen in Hand…
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Peace on Earth…
Christmas Spirit 2.0
Attribution: Sheila Sund from Salem, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter This piece will be published on Christmas Day, 2025, so Merry Christmas to everyone. May God bless us, every one—and God knows we need it. Despite enduring one of the most malignant, avaricious, spiteful, and vindictive men to ever hold …
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Kickass and Good Luck
Attribution: Evan-Amos, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that he and the keeper and Phyllis wish everyone a very merry Christmas and the best of luck in the coming New Year. And isn’t it “luck” that it all comes down to—good luck in dodging the bad ones and …
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