Attribution: John Malmin, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Kickass, the doorstop dog, indulges the keeper on this pre-Christmas day as he–the keeper, speculates on just what crazy assignment the late State Journal city editor Glenn Miller might have hatched up were holiday things in place as they were back in Madison in the 1960’s. Once …
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Category:Holidays
“Just Like the Ones I Used to Know”: The Pen in Hand’s Guide to Vintage Christmas Movies
Photo by Geoffrey Carter (Originally published, December 10, 2021) By Geoff Carter Well, the Christmas season is upon us in full force. The commercials are everywhere. We’ve seen that ad for the car—or Energizer Bunny, wrapped in a bow and sitting in the driveway on Christmas morning at least one hundred times. Sometimes it’s hard to find the …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: An Embarrassment of Scrooges
Attribution: MGM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (Originally published December 18, 2022) By Geoff Carter It’s only about a week until Christmas, and we’re into the full swing of the holiday season. Shopping, decorating, traveling, baking, wrapping, entertaining, and all the other painfully joyous activities are part of the annual hustle and bustle of the …
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Blue Christmas
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter (Originally posted December 2020) As we were trimming the tree last weekend, my wife asked me to bring in the laptop so we could listen to Christmas music. I complied—as any trained husband will—and set up the sound system in our dining room. And so we trimmed the …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to Spinning Classic Christmas Vinyl
Photo by The Retro Store on Unsplash By Geoff Carter (Originally posted in December 2019) While the Couch Potato will always be slavishly devoted to his TV home entertainment center, this week he will be putting down the universal remote in order to turn his focus solely on another entertainment form—music. Part of the reason for this departure …
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Kickass says, “No, Virginia”
Attribution: Virginia O’Hanlon , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper is aware of the discomfort that bad news brings, but in the interest of truth and honesty must pass along the results of extensive traditional journalistic research and announce: “No, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus!” …
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The Pen in Hand Presents a Michael DiMilo Production…
Babs and Knuckles in their Holiday Special Deck the Halls Artwork by Michael DiMilo (Originally published in December, 2020) Video and Story by Michael DiMilo In memory of Dave Bolyard The holiday season is all about family tradition. Whether it’s about going to Midnight Mass, carving the Christmas ham, avoiding the mother-in-law’s homemade eggnog, or …
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Kickass Sells Books
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis will be participating in the Vista West Author and Art sale tomorrow afternoon—Wednesday 4-6 pm in the community room where Christmas shoppers will be encouraged to wrap up their season with copies of the keeper’s Margaret’s War; Treeson, an APOLOGIA …
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The Pen in Hand’s Guide to a Vintage TV Christmas
“Oscar the Elf” Photo by Geoff Carter
Kickass and Young Publishers
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, noting the recent book producing efforts of both the keeper and Phyllis understands their delight as they acknowledge the latest family publishing team of seven-year-old Margaux and five-year-old Romy, cousins who left the Thanksgiving festivities and without prompting or guidance produced “The story of …
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Kickass and “Margaret’s War”
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in claiming to have book-scooped Rachel Maddow with her “Prequel” that details the precarious pro-Nazi conditioning that occurred in the US prior to WWII The keeper’s “Margaret’s War,” published two years ago does the same and throws in a love story …
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Kickass and Delivered Feast
Attribution: Pink Sherbet Photography from USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis this post turkey day in boundless appreciation of the efforts of Cyndy and Tim Andrews and granddaughter Jessy in delivering a complete dinner when flu recovery prevented the keeper and Phyllis from …
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