Attribution: http://www.ForestWander.com, CC BY-SA 3.0 US, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter I happened to be running an errand in my old hometown, the village I grew up in the other day, and I barely recognized the place. My middle school was gone; they’d razed it. Most of the businesses, including Falls Music, Sergeant Pepper’s Record …
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Category:Culture
The Possibilities Book
Photo by Geoff Carter By Geoff Carter Christmas is a time that, for most of us, evokes fond childhood memories. Who doesn’t sit around the tree on Christmas morning, watching their adorable children tear violent swaths through reams of wrapping paper, and remember their own visions of sugarplums, bikes, road race sets, Barbie dolls, board …
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Dialogues on Mr Jingles: The Highs and the Manilows
Attribution: PhilipRomanoPhoto, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Dave S., Mark M., Mark O., Dennis C., Paul C., and Geoff Carter Listening to Fresh Air again—the dark days of December have arrived. I’ve always cringed, punched the buttons to escape, (back when there were buttons on the car radio), whenever Barry came …
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Food for Thought
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Mexican Street VendorTomascastelazo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Fast food is an institution in our culture. McDonalds, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Subway, Chick-Fil-A, Arby’s, Domino’s, and Taco Ball franchises are everywhere. You can’t drive down a city street or the main drag of a small town without …
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Whistling In the Graveyard
Photo by Geoff Carter Por Dia de Los Muertos and Halloween (Originally posted on October 31, 2019) Photos by Geoff Carter By Geoff Carter While driving around running errands this last Sunday, my wife and I found ourselves in the somewhat unusual position of having some time to kill, a strange situation for us. It …
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Cycling Through
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Every year during the last week of July, the Milwaukee Riverwest neighborhood, an eclectic enclave of artists, musicians, families, and working folks, hosts the Riverwest 24, a twenty-four-hour bicycle race that runs along the neighborhood streets. According to the Riverwest 24 website, the event came about because of efforts by …
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Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter On a recent trip to New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment, and as it turns out, the Land of Enlightenment (as a state which recently offered tuition-free college and legalized recreational marijuana), I was invited by my brother to accompany him on a visit to a local marijuana …
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Spirit World
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Last week, my wife and I traveled down to visit my brother and his wife in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It’s a long drive, but after we get past the rolling hills of Iowa and the endless horizons of Nebraska, we were awed by the sight of the …
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Dialogues on Working the Culture: Bloody Dreams on the Silver Screen
Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/PEJHULxUHZs Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S. Mark O., Dennis C., Paul C., and Geoff Carter Hey bots, I wrote this a couple weeks ago and thought it might be a good jumping-off point for a new thread. -G Justice For All? Violence at the Movies Movies are by far …
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Kickass and Unusual Music
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis, having recently been shown the way to the Overture Center, returned last night to hear the big concert-hall organ do its thing with a trombone and a set of drums. While that might seem like an odd musical line …
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Kickass and Chinese Balloon
Attribution: Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, US Forest Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is often unable to do anything about the keeper’s excesses. This is one of those mornings: Oh, big Chinese balloon up in the sky Please come to earth before I die. I want to see what …
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Kickass and High School Students
Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper each weekday morning in watching the kids stroll across the parking lot on their way over to Memorial High School. They seem taller and more purposeful than the high school crowd the keeper remembers being a part …
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