Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in this season of special trees by recalling their visit to the “Crooked Bush” in Saskatchewan some years ago near Phyllis birthplace. The Crooked Bush is a three-acre patch of trembling aspen with unique twisted growth patterns that have …
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The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments: “Ice Dance”
Artwork by Michael DiMilo Ice Dance from “Edward Scissorshands” By Geoff Carter The holiday season is all about family tradition. Whether it’s about going to Midnight Mass, carving the Christmas ham, avoiding the mother-in-law’s homemade eggnog, or sampling Grandma’s oyster stew, traditions are what makes our holidays special. But some people are hurting. Many are …
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Kickass and Elon’s XMas
Attribution: DonkeyHotey, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, through his seasonal powers of being bad in these pre-Christmas days in order to make other bad people feel good about themselves, has intercepted Elon Musk’s letter to Santa: “Listen up, old man. Here’s the new Christmas …
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Crises of Conscience
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter The world was shocked when Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Health Insurance, was recently murdered in broad daylight on a busy street in Manhattan. Reports confirmed a gunman clad in a gray hoodie who fled on a bicycle and then escaped on a bus and that shell …
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The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments: “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis” by Tom Waits
Happy Holidays from The Pen in Hand Blog
Attribution: Archives Branch, USMC History Division, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christmas_Card,_1_December_1941,_page_2_of_3.jpg
Kickass and Guns
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis as perplexed as everyone else at Madison’s recent inclusion in the school-shooting category but they refrain from joining in the inane response of “thoughts and prayers” and try to embrace the following “bottom line” as proposed after a recent …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to Defining the Holiday Movie Genre: The “Die Hard” Question
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter At this festive time of year, many of us observe the holiday traditions of Christmas like trimming the tree, singing carols, buying the presents, visiting Santa, and on and on and on. Part of our celebration of the holiday includes seeing the myriads of Christmas movies and television …
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Kickass and Salted Peanuts
Attribution: Eatcha, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that in the keeper’s efforts to be as helpful as possible at this time of year, he suggested that a solution to George Hasselberg’s finding salted-peanuts-in-the-shell problem was at Menards where big bags of them are located near the dog …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: An Embarrassment of Scrooges
Attribution: MGM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter It’s only about a week until Christmas, and we’re into the full swing of the holiday season. Shopping, decorating, traveling, baking, wrapping, entertaining, and all the other painfully joyous activities are part of the annual hustle and bustle of the holidays, but another huge part …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “A Disturbance in the Force”
(The Worst TV Christmas Special Ever) Photo by Jake Hills on Unsplash When Worlds Collide: A Review of A Disturbance in the Force By Geoff Carter Own work based on unknown original creator, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Sitting in a crowded theater watching a movie is in many ways a solitary act. Viewers don’t—they’re not supposed to, …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Pearl”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Dreams and Nightmares: Film Review of Pearl ★★★★☆ Last week, I wrote about the film X, the first in Ti West’s X Film Series. That film is not only a tribute to some of the great slasher films of the past (most notably The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), it is also a surprisingly touching examination …
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Kickass and Norma’s Birthday
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper would wish his younger sister a happy 92nd birthday today but he knows she would bring up the occasion of his telling her that if she held the tennis racket in front of her face it would protect her from the …
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