Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will join the keeper today in assisting Phyllis as she turns Apt 523 into an art gallery to display some of the outstanding examples of her photo-art for fellow Vista West residents. It promises to be a gala event, and the keeper is wondering …
Read
Penny Dumb, Dollar Stupid
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter In 1975, Senator William Proxmire of Wisconsin presented his first Golden Fleece Award, a trophy recognizing individuals and government agencies for outstanding achievements in squandering taxpayer money. The award was, of course, tongue-in-cheek, but if the senator were around today (and not spinning in his grave) he would …
Read
Kickass and Ornery Silver
ABC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, in this era of “to-mask-or-not-to-mask,” passes along the keeper’s account of a sad unmasking when he–the keeper was unmasked by the cruel passage of time as not the Lone Ranger but a skinny farm kid astride the world’s orneriest Shetland pony, …
Read
Kickass and Woman War Screams
Julien Bryan , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, endorses the keeper’s lament that when it comes to the slaughter of women and children, war is messier than school shootings since it splinters up so much real estate. Both, however, require cultures that have permitted conditioning by the likes of …
Read
Kickass and Full Service
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper renews his membership in the club of old guys who once worked in a “filling” station, by joining the chorus of “five—or was it six, gallons of gas for a dollar;” and asking for the gas order only after having washed …
Read
Kickass and Bird Photos
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, has pretty much given up on assisting the keeper with his “bird” issues, including, of course, his place in the unstated sandhill crane photo competition that is ongoing as the big birds return to the state in droves. Prior to the most recent snow …
Read
The Couch Potato’s Guide to Old Hollywood: The Legacy of Robert Redford
NBC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter During his storied career, Robert Redford was not only known as one of the great leading men of his generation, but also as a gifted director, producer, and outspoken advocate of independent film. Founder of the now internationally renowned Sundance Film Festival, Redford has been …
Read
Kickass and Defending Mothers
Mvs.gov.ua, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper will drive Phyllis to a covid testing site today as part of her preparation for a medical procedure, and it is but a short leap to imagine that he is driving her to pick up …
Read
Kickass and a Happy Birthday
Selena N. B. H. from Fayetteville, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that today the keeper and Phyllis will host a birthday celebration for Phyllis’s grandson Geordan with a German menu favored by his father Kevin and mother Colleen. It will be a happy occasion, and the keeper will …
Read
Kickass and the Crossing Guard
Gillfoto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper’s long-range view of the crossing guard down on the corner gives him—the keeper, an opportunity to witness one of countless examples of the Human race devising and using a means to blend conflicting interests to the benefit of …
Read
Kickass and the Dead Beaver
Photo by Francesco Ungaro on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, assists the keeper in making something of his—the keeper’s memory of the March afternoon when most of the student body of the country school trudged across the deep melting snow of Becker’s woods to see the bloated body of the beaver that had been trapped …
Read
This Aggression Will Not Stand, Man
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter In the cult film classic, The Big Lebowski, the Dude, its laconic anti-hero, complains to the other Lebowski—the Big Lebowski, the rich one—that he, the Dude, has been robbed and beaten up by thugs who had mistook him for the other Lebowski. The Dude is neither rich nor powerful, …
Read