Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, tries to be helpful as the keeper and Phyllis go about proofing “Treeson,” the keepers “Apologia to the trees” that went to make the paper for printing his 35 or so years of newspaper drivel. The 275-page book, with a striking cover design by Phyllis, …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to Film: The Boyish Charm of Ryan Gosling
NASA/Aubrey Gemignani, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter Ryan Gosling is one of the most versatile actors of his generation with his ability to switch roles between heartthrobs and psychopaths, romantics and realists—or unlikely combinations of these disparate parts—as easily as falling off a log. There is an underlying goodness, sometimes a deeply …
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Dialogues on Being a Stand-Up Guy: How to Color Outside the Lines
Attribution: Edward Kimmel from Takoma Park, MD, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis C., Paul C., and Geoff Carter Bots, Speaking of Mz. Kari…. I’m here to provide a few comedic relief YouTube recs: Dave Chappelle’s SNL 14 minute stand up—link to it below. He goes after …
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Kickass and River Rat Thanksgiving
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, witnessed the keeper’s clan gathered like the river rats that they are enjoying one last Thanksgiving event at Andy and Ohm’s riverbank camp, consuming not one but two turkeys cooked by Kim and Mike and dodging campfire smoke to update misdeeds and malarkey on …
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Kickass and the Canadian Fruitcake
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joined the keeper in pretty much staying out of the way as Phyllis went into her annual fruit cake making mode, combining a most interesting collection of colorful elements and beginning the procedure that concludes with long-term soaking in a tasty alcoholic beverage, something …
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Kickass and Playing Scrabble
thebarrowboy, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, was an innocent spectator as the scrabble game see-sawed back and forth with first the keeper in the lead only to fall behind as Phyllis used six tiles in a word that required rule-book justification. The game went down to the very …
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Kickass and the Dumb Turkey
Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, assists the keeper with the following: Don’t know if you’ve heard That being a bird Can go lots of ways With honors and days. Some are here for the eggs they lay Others to make Col. Sander’s day. One bird is the …
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American Shingles
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter One of many stealthy threats to the health of older Americans is shingles, a painful condition in which a painful rash of raised blisters erupts over the body. It can last for weeks. Some patients cannot bear to wear clothes over the afflicted area. Shingles is caused by …
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Hospitality
Jean Leon Gerome Ferris , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter Originally published Thanksgiving Day, 2018 Thanksgiving 2019 (addendum) Even though the events in this original blog–the caravan to the U.S. border–are past, the effects of them are still with us today. The U.S. is presently holding thousands of refugees in camps and in …
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Kickass and Hitler for Dinner
Muhammad Mahdi Karim, GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will wait for table scraps as the keeper recalls the WWII Thanksgiving when Hitler came to dinner as the main course at Grandma and Grandpa Helgeland’s farm. Hitler was, or had been, a big dictatorial leghorn rooster who commanded all activity in …
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Kickass and Phyllis Remission
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in celebrating a pre-Thanksgiving checkup visit Monday with Dr. Rose at the UW Carbone Cancer Center with continuation of the “REMISSION” report for Phyllis. So what else matters? Eat lots of turkey and have a great day! See more …
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Kickass and Old Siblings
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, shares the residual pleasure of a recent meeting of the keeper’s siblings and others in a display of defying the odds and getting old, really old in the keeper’s case. Hosted by niece Elizabeth and Huck, the event brought the keeper, his sister Norma …
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