Kickass and Grandpa’s Long Underwear

Attribution: Photo by Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper making the switch from winter to summer shirts, which means short sleeves and bare arms for the next four months or so. The move equates to the critters shedding their winter coats and the birds showing …
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Kickass and Old Friend Roger

Photo courtesy of Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper received a 95th birthday notice from OLD friend Roger Locke, a fellow member of the Barron WI. High School class of 1949. The class was close to 100 in 1949 and may now be represented only by Roger and the …
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Dialogues on Wisconsin Surplus: Let My Money Go!!

Illustration by Michael DiMilo Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis C., John K., Michael D., and Geoff Carter Bots, In his final big act as governor, Tony Evers has struck a deal with Republicans to spend down Wisconsin’s $2.5B surplus. These appear to the main elements: * $300 refund to …
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Kickass and Part of Nature

Attribution: Photo by Skyler Smith on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, napped at home as the keeper and Phyllis joined the multitudes in paying allegiance to the remnant genes that define humans as creatures of the land as much as any other living thing.  This genetic signal of acknowledging nature has become convoluted to emerge …
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Kickass and the Brewery

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, shares the news with the keeper that the Schlitz Brewery is all done after 150 years of helping “Make Milwaukee famous.”   The keeper joined the Milwaukee Journal staff way back when payola favors to reporters was in vogue and on the first Milwaukee Journal Christmas Eve the keeper …
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Kickass and Carl’s Hawk

Attribution: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, naps as the keeper remembers the occasion of his Chinese friend Carl Lee and the red-tailed hawk with the broken wing. The keeper happened upon the injured hawk on a morning pheasant hunt and wrapped it in his jacket for transportation …
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Kickass and Home on the Range

Attribution: Frederic Remington, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, has occasionally been moved to howling in accompaniment to the keeper’s singing, and recently they have collaborated on “Home, Home on the Range,” with Phyllis joining in with aggressive harmony. The lyrics-“Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam …
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Kickass and Two-Toed Sloth

Attribution: Photo by Bennet Robin Fabian on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in their efforts at including all species in the daily commentary by noting that a 20-year-old two-toed sloth has transferred from the Milwaukee zoo to the Vilas Park Zoo in Madison. Incredibly, even as close as it is …
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Kickass and Spring Flowers

Photo by Geoff Carter By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, stayed home and napped as the keeper and Phyllis wrestled with the question of “Where have all the flowers gone?” with a windshield survey designed in part to immerse them in something–spring flowers, free of the current narcissistic idiotic political meddling. It turns out …
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Kickass and the Big Snake

Attribution: Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, agrees with the keeper and Phyllis that diversion in these absurd Wizard-of-Odd days is essential, and the discovery of the dead 20-foot Burmese Phython in an Iowa County ditch near the rural Hillside School fills the bill nicely. Community attention immediately and almost …
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