“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. Getting ready for this holiday season, …
Read

The Slow Grind

Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter “The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine” –Ecclesiastes 8:10 Last week, nearly two years after the attack on the Capitol Building, a jury found Stewart Rhodes, leader of the far-right extremist Oath Keepers militia, guilty of seditious conspiracy, obstructing certification of the election, and destroying …
Read

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 …
Read

Back to Basics

Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter One of the main purposes of public education is to help mold conscientious, thoughtful, and responsible citizens. While most public-school curriculum emphasizes the core curriculum subjects of Math, Science, Social Studies, and English, our schools are mainly taxed with producing good and decent people—and they are still doing …
Read

Kickass and Candidate Quotes

Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in mulling over the following actual quotes: Tim Michels, Connecticut billionaire bidding to buy the Wisconsin governor’s mansion for personal entertainment, as in playhouse: “After I am elected governor, Republicans will never lose another election.” Ron Johnson, who tried to deliver …
Read

Dialogues on Lying Like a Rug: Tartuffe Goes to Washington

Artwork by Michael DiMilo Featuring the Fabulous Dadots: Mark M., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis C., Paul C., and Geoff Carter We should not be surprised by some level of hypocrisy from politicians.   But the Herschel Walker abortion story is playing out at a higher level. Football hero & Trump devotee Walker is running in …
Read