Ryancampbellrpc, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, supports the keeper’s efforts to have a zip-line installed from the Vista West facility where he and Phyllis live, across Gammon Road to Memorial High School. (It would have to be walker friendly, of course.) It is the keeper’s thinking that there are …
Read
Kickass and the Guest List
PeakDill, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes the keeper and Phyllis’s ’s most recent guest log entries: the keeper’s grandson Nick and great granddaughter Caroline with Caroline demonstrating her boundless gymnastic talent down in the Vista West exercise room; Phyllis’s son Todd and daughter Tyler and one of …
Read
Kickass and Don’t Let the Old Man In
Andreas Bohnenstengel, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s thought that it is always nice to be included in the start of a new week. As Clint—even older than the keeper, has it in the song Toby Keith wrote for him, “Look out your window and …
Read
The Pen in Hand’s Guide to Old Hollywood: The Legacy of Christopher Walken
GabboT, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter He is a gifted actor who actually started his career as a dancer, a fact that is readily evident when viewing Hairspray, Pennies from Heaven, The King of New York, and much of his other work in and out of musical, an actor who is then able to …
Read
Kickass and Two-Year-Old Party
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper frequently finds himself out of his league, and that was never more so than at great grandson Ziggy Russell’s two-year birthday party, when a bunch of cousins and little friends gathered to eat sweetcorn and “dirt” cake with Ziggy, and …
Read
Dialogues on The China Syndrome: Letters from a Space Monkey
Office of U.S. House Speaker, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons In memory of Mike Wilmington: 1946-2022 Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis C., Paul C., and Geoff Carter I have a couple of questions that I feel the Brain Trust of Bots may be well-equipped to answer: 1. What are the benefits, …
Read
Kickass and Boat Trouble
By Bill Stokes Willy Stöwer , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Kickass, the doorstop dog, tries to be as helpful as possible in getting the keeper through his daily slog, and therefore listens as he—the keeper laments going through yet another summer without a boat and all the attendant woes, worries, expenses, calamities, and distresses that …
Read
Kickass Resists the Big End
U.S. Army Signal Corps, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, points out to the keeper that it is shortsighted, selfish and arrogant of him to look at old age as a positive that will spare him being around to witness just what kind of stupidity the human race uses …
Read
The Big Manzana
The Malecon in Puerto Vallarta Photo by Geoff Carter My wife and I recently visited the city of Puerto Vallarta for about a month. We stayed in Old Vallarta, the extreme south side of town which is relatively far removed from the glitz and glitter of the big hotels, all-inclusive resorts, boozy neon-soaked nightclubs, and …
Read
Kickass and Feeling Sorry for Self
David Marranis; LBJ Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Kickass, the doorstop dog, cannot control the keeper’s inclination to feel sorry for himself which was on prominent display recently when he was prevented by health circumstances from attending the Madison Library event that offered three of the major “must-attend” ingredients: Something free—a book, invigorating discussion, …
Read
Kickass and Emergency Room
U.S. Navy photo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis are attempting to recover the day/night they lost while waiting at the UW Hospital Emergency Center, having been directed there by another UW Health outlet. Admittedly neither one of them was in danger of …
Read
Kickass and Phyllis Reading
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper appreciates the advantage of a reading wife as Phyllis shares with him snatches of whatever book she is currently into. Part of the enjoyment of this for the keeper is in noting the depth of pleasure and stimulation that writers bring …
Read