Dialogue on Crime and Punishment: Letters to Quantico

Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Dave S., Mark M., Mark O., Dennis Curley, and Geoff Carter ABC Television-ABC Photo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons The New York Times: “Two Men Acquitted of Plotting to Kidnap Michigan Governor in High Profile Case” (April 8.2022) My Take:   This ain’t your Efrem Zimbalist Jr.’s FBI anymore. Acquittal sounds valid. FBI hired loose …
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Kickass and Balcony Chickens

Photo by cottonbro: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-chicken-in-cage-4911706/ By Bill Stokes          Kickass, the doorstop dog, on this egg-dominated Easter morning, is not sure just where he stands on the request the keeper made to Vista West director Jeanne to keep a small flock of chickens on the 5th floor balcony where he and Phyllis live.          Despite having …
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Old School Cinema: The Way We Were

Siebbi, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter In his recent Harper’s article “Il Maestro”, Martin Scorsese laments that today’s film industry has become so centered on profiteering that—in the world of marketing algorhythms and streaming platforms—cinematic art has been relegated to the same level as any type of streaming content, be it a commercial, …
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Kickass and Price of Gas

Daniel Christensen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes          Kickass, the doorstop dog, failed in his attempt to prevent the keeper from participating in April-as-poetry-month, and he apologizes for that.                   THE PRICE OF GAS          On stopping at the gas pumps          In the company of grumps,          Carrying a bucket of money,          For …
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Kickass and Moral Posting

BakeNecko, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes       Kickass, the doorstop dog, informs the keeper that his—the keeper’s seeming ability to ignore the slaughter and suffering of millions of his planetary partners while producing lighthearted commentary about his personal ride on the big ball, does not speak to indifference, but to a coping …
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You Can’t Go Home Again

Kenneth BranaghGiorgia Meschini, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Film Review of Belfast By Geoff Carter As a medium, narrative film is a palimpsest that draws the best from other art forms; like literature, it can convey the impression of a time and place through dialogue, characterization, and setting. Like two-dimensional art, it can frame an …
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Kickass and the Catalytic Converter

Photo by Kevin Bidwell: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-working-under-his-car-1388278/ By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that in the interests of retaining a semblance of relevance, the keeper now has a job which he created for himself after the bus at Vista West, where he and Phyllis live, was temporarily out of service because some jerk crawled under …
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Kickass and Special Communication Powers

Photo: Myrabella / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, has lent his special communications powers to the keeper as he—the keeper intercepts messages from the Russian oligarch who is buying Wisconsin as a location for his “up-nort” retreat. Obviously heavily influenced by the recent “60-Minutes” portrayal of Wisconsin as helplessly under the control …
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