Kickass and Killer Whales

Attribution: Callan Carpenter, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper exhausted from the recent sports extravaganzas and seriously thinking of getting up out of his recliner just to see if he can stand up. Between the Olympians and the Super Bowlers, not to mention the half-timers, the …
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Kickass and Superbowl Boos

Attribution: VOA News – B Allen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis finding themselves in the incredibly rare circumstance of agreeing with a POTUS decision to not attend the Superbowl tomorrow in Santa Clara because, as the POTUS says “it is too far away.” …
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Dialogues on the Religious Write: Ground Zero-Gate

Attribution: Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis C., John K., Michael M., and Geoff Carter Bots, I’m going to revisit the transgender culture war. I don’t really have anything new to say, but I’d like to draw your attention to a recent eruption in said war. Bots …
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Kickass and Bill Veeck

Attribution: US Marine Corps, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reminds the keeper that the baseball season is off and running and it is time for his annual lament about the editor who, to the keeper’s consternation, cut Bill Veeck’s wooden leg out of one of the keeper’s Tribune …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Play Ball!

Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter I sighted my first robin a few weeks ago. The daffodils and crocuses are starting to peek through the ground. After possibly one of the longest winters in the history of the modern world—at least subjectively speaking–spring has arrived. We can enjoy walks in the sunshine, digging in …
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Winners and Losers

By Geoff Carter Illustration by Michel DiMilo The NFL playoffs. The NCAA College Football playoffs. The Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Cotton Bowl. The start of NCAA Men and Women’s Basketball conference play. The NBA All-star game. This list doesn’t even include hockey. college volleyball, or the multitude of world soccer leagues. Not to …
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Kickass and Sports Fans

Attribution: Richard Hurd from Leland, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes, after hearing of a recent Badger football loss, that being a sports fan has evolutionary identity with well-fed human predecessors sitting up on the safe limbs while watching the meaningless machinations of young wildebeests, zebras and …
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Kickass and Ingle with One Arm

Attribution: Gail Leenstra, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in acknowledging the Paralympic Games now underway in Paris, with remembering life- long friend Ingle who lost an arm as a result of a boyhood accident. As a fishing/golfing companion Ingle bested the keeper on a regular …
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Yearly Cycle

Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Every year during the last week of July, the Milwaukee Riverwest neighborhood, an eclectic enclave of artists, musicians, families, and working folks, hosts the Riverwest 24, a twenty-four-hour bicycle race that runs along the neighborhood streets. According to the Riverwest 24 website, the event came about because of efforts by …
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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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