Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, like the keeper, takes sleeping locations for granted—comfortable beds, recliners, couches, all with built in reassurance that waking up will occur in a secure, warm place where a nutritious and delicious breakfast is only a few steps away. It was that kind …
Read
Kickass and Misogyny
Neanderthal-Museum, Mettmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, assists the keeper in sorting through the emergence of the “Misogyny Monarchy” as it is being crafted by the US Supine Court according to hints about a coming decision that, in a Darwinian U-turn, will take the tribe back …
Read
New Wave Cinema 2.0: The Films of David Lynch
Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter In The New Wave 2.0 series, The Pen in Hand Blog will be examining the work of today’s most provocative and influential filmmakers, artists whose singular visual styles and visionary senses have stretched the boundaries of cinema. Drawing upon Francois Truffaut’s definition of an auteur, …
Read
Kickass and Birds Aren’t Real
Ismael Olea, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, does not often get an opportunity to report that the keeper is put into a state of euphoria by something on TV, but it happened with the “Birds aren’t real” piece on 60-Minutes Sunday: THERE IS HOPE! Young people have taken the …
Read
Kickass and Mayday
Photo by Alex Martinez on Unsplash Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper as he shouts, “MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY!” as loudly as possible in the hope that he will be rescued from his slovenly way of life and made productive again, perhaps in the mode of those reporters at the WH correspondents’ …
Read
Kickass and Ava’s Dog Walk
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in cheering on Ava the beagle who is obviously not content to accept her traditional dog identity, and is making a bold move to pattern dog-walking more as it might be designed by cats. Following a temporary mobility …
Read
Kickass and Bird Migration
Antonio, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in his fascination with the fact that, according to ornithologists, 340 million birds will migrate across the skies of the US tonight. The incredible timeless night migration of birds is now being negatively affected by human …
Read
Kickass and Attenborough
David AttenboroughDepartment of Foreign Affairs and Trade website – www.dfat.gov.au, CC BY 3.0 AU, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s assessment that watching the PBS “Climate Change” program hosted by David Attenborough produced the sensation of being aboard a doomed airliner. The program’s take-away for the keeper was …
Read
Solitude
Art by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter I was thinking about my grandma the other day, about how she used to leave her TV on all the time, whether she was in the room or not. When I was in college, I had a standing invitation to come to her house for dinner. I’d arrive …
Read
Kickass and Elon Musk
Pablo Carlos Budassi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper’s confusion in noting the simultaneity of Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter’s BS megaphone, and the local PBS begathon’s pleas for a few dollars to keep disseminating the truth and consequences of daily …
Read
Kickass and the Trees
Maud Newton, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in noting the trees, huddled now in late April on the hills in skeletal nudity, but beginning to offer tender buds to buy the leafy/lace green gowns to take them dancing extravagantly through the long …
Read
Kickass and Boating Woes
A.F. Bradley, New York, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that based on the keeper’s life-long experience, he advises the Russian oligarchs who own the billion- dollar yachts, that killing themselves, as several have reportedly done, is an overreaction to a boating problem. From the …
Read