D J Shin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in acknowledging that planet Earth has obviously been designated by the rich one percent as the celestial garbage dump, and is rapidly being overrun by greedy rats and gorging fat cats to the point of being unlivable. …
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Category:Culture
The Couch Potato’s Guide to Old and New Hollywood: The Legacy of Clint Eastwood
English: “Copyright © by Warner Bros. Inc.” Photographer unknown., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter Clint Eastwood has been a screen icon for the past sixty-six years. He’s acted in over seventy-two films, directed forty-five, and produced more than fifty, sometimes wearing all three hats during a single project. He has been responsible …
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Kickass Upgrades Booze Relationship
Photo by Anastasia Belousova from Pexels By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s observation that in the long, agonizing relationship between humans and booze, the advent of wineries is carrying the day; and it is being carried largely by women, which lifts it several steps up from the tradition of men hanging out in …
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The Best Laid Plans
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter After a long hot week in the city, my wife and I took a trip up to our place in the great Northwoods, a family cottage that we’ve owned for over fifty years. The original cabin was a tiny summer cottage with no basement, heat (except a tiny …
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Kickass Unionizes Social Media
WisPolitics.com, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be assisting the keeper on this Labor Day weekend in unionizing those—including himself, who frequent social platforms, like this one; and as a first condition asks for the elimination of comments about the stupidity of others, which should reduce the platform …
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The Long Goodbye
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter This past weekend, I attended a memorial service to commemorate the passing of a very old and very dear friend of mine. Because he died eighteen months ago, during the height of the pandemic—while we under quarantine—his family was unable to hold services at that time. Because this …
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Kickass and Missing Children
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in wondering what happened to the children: In one of their meandering forays on a recent flawless summer afternoon across many miles of those wonderful winding driftless-area roads, past hundreds of interesting farms, and through dozens of communities of …
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Passing the Smell Test
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter While we were recently visiting the family cabin recently—which is shared by three extended families—my wife started poking through the refrigerator. It contained a variety of half-used bottles of salad dressing, hot sauce, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, and various other sundries. She was—of course—checking expiration dates. Some of the …
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Personal Space
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter On July 11th, billionaire Richard Branson launched himself fifty-three miles into the atmosphere—to the very edge of space, taking a slight edge in a three-way race between himself and other multi-billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk to establish a space tourism industry. Bezos plans to launch his self-funded …
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Toys in the Attic
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter I was trying to find a certain book the other day. It wasn’t in any of the bookcases downstairs, so I headed up into the attic and walked into what can only be termed a natural disaster. Boxes upon boxes littered all three of the rooms. Everything from …
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The Royal Treatment
Artwork by Michael DiMilo Article by Geoffrey Carter On September 19th, 1796, against the wishes of the Federalist Party, President George Washington announced he would not be seeking a third term as president of the United States. At a time when world leaders rarely relinquished power voluntarily, Washington’s action became the template for the peaceful …
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Make America Spock Again
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter During my college years, after class, my friends and I would get together afternoons to watch daily reruns of the original Star Trek. Of course, before the innumerable spin-offs and marketing re-imaginings, it was the only Star Trek. It soon became apparent that while we appreciated Captain Kirk’s boldness, Dr. …
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