Category:Wisconsin

Kickass and Old Licenses

Posted on May 23, 2025Updated on May 23, 2025by Bill StokesCategories:Aging, Humor, Kickass, Memories, Wisconsin

Attribution: Photo by Andreas Haubold on Unsplash Kickass, the doorstop dog, warns the keeper that it is possible to overdo in saving mementos as they are wont to span time on very rickety bridges and leave you stranded on an impossible fantasy island. So it was with the keeper’s 1944-1945 Wisconsin resident hunting and trapping licenses that somehow …
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Kickass the Bird Killer

Posted on May 18, 2025Updated on May 18, 2025by Bill StokesCategories:Humor, Kickass, Nature, Wisconsin

Attribution: Alan D. Wilson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper began the day grappling with the question that has plagued him for the better part of his life: As he now lives amicably and supportive of all birds, can he erase that early part of his …
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Kickass and the Birds at the Arboretum

Posted on May 17, 2025Updated on May 17, 2025by Bill StokesCategories:Humor, Kickass, Nature, Social Commentary, Wisconsin

Attribution: Dori, CC BY-SA 3.0 US, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, does not always get involved in the keeper’s scientific projects, but was unable to resist as the keeper and Phyllis had a serious look at how they might share the exciting ongoing seasonal migration with the birds. First they checked …
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Kickass and Four Sons

Posted on May 13, 2025Updated on May 13, 2025by Bill StokesCategories:Family, Humor, Kickass, Wisconsin

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, noted the keeper’s delight with the recent posting by Becky W. of an old photo of him and his four sons at a long-ago rare moment when the sons were all lined up like innocent choir boys. The photo dates to the early 1960’s …
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Kickass and Spring of 2025

Posted on May 12, 2025Updated on May 12, 2025by Geoff CarterCategories:Environment, Humor, Kickass, Wisconsin

Attribution: USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis issuing the following executive order: All Wisconsin residents and visitors shall, within the next few days, immerse themselves in the birthing of the summer of 2025. It is a magnificent thing: trees in colorful new-leaf …
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Kickass and Hummingbirds

Posted on May 10, 2025Updated on May 10, 2025by Bill StokesCategories:Humor, Kickass, Nature, Wisconsin

Attribution: Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, watched the keeper hang the hummingbird feeder off his and Phyllis’s 5th floor balcony railing and refrained from laughing at such foolish human behavior. (Dogs can laugh but they do it silently so it doesn’t embarrass their keepers who are forever doing dumb and …
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Kickass Remembers Grocery Shopping

Posted on April 30, 2025Updated on April 30, 2025by Bill StokesCategories:Humor, Kickass, Memories, Wisconsin

Attribution: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper remembers a grocery shopping trip with his mother as follows: Park in the Barron, WI. back alley and lug the crate of fresh eggs in through the back door where grocer Harry Meyers checked them over …
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Kickass and Earth Day 2025

Posted on April 22, 2025Updated on April 22, 2025by Bill StokesCategories:Environment, Gardening, Humor, Kickass, Wisconsin

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper acknowledging this Earth Day with a salute to Phyllis who lives in harmony, helpfulness and respect for the besieged Earth far in excess of the keeper’s slovenly ways. Once on an early Earth Day, the keeper canoed down the Namakagon River …
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Kickass and Old Protests

Posted on April 16, 2025Updated on April 16, 2025by Bill StokesCategories:Activism, Humor, Kickass, Politics, Wisconsin

Attribution: uwdigitalcollections, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, tries not to get in the way as Phyllis and friends work out an introduction to the city bus system so they can get to the Capitol for such things as political demonstrations. The keeper, in the meantime retreats to a …
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Kickass and Model T Coils

Posted on April 14, 2025Updated on April 14, 2025by Bill StokesCategories:Humor, Kickass, Memories, Wisconsin

Attribution: dave_7 from Lethbridge, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes with the keeper and Phyllis that occasionally there will be a Facebook post that sends one or the other of them hurtling back through the decades. Such was the case for the keeper when the Model T …
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Kickass Welcomes April 13th

Posted on April 13, 2025Updated on April 13, 2025by Bill StokesCategories:Humor, Kickass, Wisconsin

Attribution: Photo by Daiga Ellaby on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in welcoming the day: “Hello April 13, 2025! “It is great to have you whatever you are–at the moment a bit hazy and overcast. “We know the feeling and assure you that burning off the haze and getting to …
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Wisconsin Strong

Posted on April 10, 2025Updated on April 10, 2025by Geoff CarterCategories:History, Politics, Social Commentary, Wisconsin

Photo by Geoff Carter By Geoff Carter I’m a Wisconsinite, born and raised. I’m usually pretty proud of that. Not always, but usually. We’ve had our missteps and our black sheep, but generally Wisconsin does the right thing. I’m especially proud of the progressive traditions and stubborn idealism evident in our state. Just last week, in …
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