Attribution: Gogerr, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that the most irritating of the keeper’s recent “Back in my day” stories may be the one of his having once bought a new four-bedroom house on Madison’s west side for $25,000. The reaction of listeners to the …
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Category:Social Commentary
Kickass and Shouting Children
Attribution: Photo by Vitolda Klein on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, loafed with the keeper and Phyllis in front of the wide-open door as the waning daylight lost its sun-stored warmth and its luminating powers. Somewhere out there, invisible in the evolving late October night, a lighted playground full of children produced a joyous non-stop …
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Kickass Does NOT Go to the Game
Attribution: Ryan Dickey from Evanston, IL / Chicago, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, watched as the keeper decided not to go to one of the upcoming World Series games in Milwaukee after noting single game tickets were priced at more than $5,000, and one for standing-room-only …
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Kickass and Visitors from Canada
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes, along with the keeper and Phyllis, that visitors from Canada bring reassurance that all is not lost, despite the inane babbling of the pitiful POTUS. Phyllis’s sister Joan and her husband Bill are on their way back to their Saskatchewan home after a …
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Dialogues on the Designated Underdog: A Dadbot History of the Brewers 2026 National League Division Series
Attribution: Photo by Smithsonian on Unsplash Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Dave S., Mark M., Mark O., Dennis C., John K., Michael D., and Geoff Carter (The Beginning: September 27, 2026) Rais’en a toast w/me d-bots to the Milwaukee Brewers. Na zdrowie! Only 11 more to get. A (shifty), baker’s dozen. ( I’ve thanked MO, more than once for …
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Kickass Goes to Church
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phills joining friends Joyce and Maryann and Gary to visit the spectacular Dane County hilltop where the earliest arriving immigrant Norwegians built their first church in 1852. Known as “The Hauge Log Church,” the building still survives in amazing detail, …
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Winners and Losers
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter We live in a society that has become increasingly transactional, functioning almost exclusively under a quid pro quo sensibility. Tit for tat and this for that. One for me and one for you. All for one and all for me—and so on. At a certain age, a person …
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Kickass and River Rat Clan
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, needed no further proof of the “river rat” character of the keeper’s clan than what happened Sunday as he and Phyllis and multiple clan members and friends gathered at several locations along the river to……. To what? To eat and drink and tell stories …
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Kickass and Vista West Memories
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, paused with the keeper and Phyllis yesterday for a memory service for the 34 residents who have died at Vista West during the five years it has been open. Considering a resident population of less than 200, some simple math might produce a death …
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Kickass and the Frat Boys
Attribution: Rotograph Company, New York City (publisher), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, hands it off to the keeper for his rant on college fraternities. The “frats” have recently been in the news for making Cornell University look like a juvenile fun-house parking lot complete with playpens for the …
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Kickass at the Intersection
Attribution: Photo by Connor Gan on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper spending an hour in a UW campus/hospital parking lot next to one of the incredibly busy intersections. The occasion was a Phyllis medical appointment and the keeper had brought along a book to occupy his waiting time. But he never picked …
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Kickass and the Farm Wagons of Fall
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes, along with the keeper and Phyllis, that it is that wonderful time of year when hay wagons come out of hiding to become featured display platforms for the colorful produce of the season. The flatbed old rural work wagons are suddenly everywhere–in farmyards, …
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