Kickass and UW Health

Attribution: Av9, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, fresh from exposure to the sprawling UW health care system as he retrieves Phyllis from her hip replacement surgery, concludes that the modern hospital may be both the ultimate point of civilization’s advance and the most complex …
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Kickass and Political Animals

Attribution: Guido Gerding, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in noting that there has been a flurry of internet photos of  Dem. veep candidate Tim Walz holding various animals—dogs, a cat and even a pig, all the while smiling and appearing comfortable in animal company. …
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Kickass and New Right Hip

Attribution: Smith & Nephew, FAL, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in reporting that Phyllis’s hip joint replacement surgery went well and she will likely return home today.  Not intending to make trouble, but the keeper is a bit concerned that Phillis has a new “right” hip and …
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Kickass Welcomes Auggie

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis and the rest of the herd in welcoming newest member “August” produced by Natalie and Eliot and coming in as a 21-incher as measured in trout-fishing terms. Welcome, August! You are entering a wild old world at a time …
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Kickass and Sisters and Brothers

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, endorses the keeper’s observation that the gathering at the riverside cookout on a recent hot afternoon had a lot to do with Woodington sisters and Stokes brothers with histories dating back to the early days of Madison’s near westside communities. The sisters and brothers …
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Kickass and Old Men Talking

Attribution: National Archives at College Park , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes the keeper’s amazement at how his old friends age while he—the keeper maintains his “not-long-out-of-high-school” self-image.  So it was with seeing Hal again after 15 or 20 years. Damn, Hal has aged! He is still up …
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Kickass and Doddering

Attribution: Sonny doe, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper does his best to deny his identity as a doddering old man, but occasionally the truth emerges as it did in a recent grocery check-out line when the keeper held things up as he fumbled with …
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Kickass and Olde Olympics

Attribution: Vusi vilanculos, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis watched from their recliners as the worlds most accomplished young people floated down the Seine in the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics.  While the Olympics must necessarily focus on youth at the top of …
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Kickass and the Cellular Cycle

Attribution: Photo by Gabriel Jimenez on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis were both impressed by information posted by Scott Marrese-Wheeler that each human is composed of 84 minerals, 23 elements, 8 gallons of water divided among 38 billion cells, and these cells will inevitably be recycled in some other …
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