A gated community, Conyer by N Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots Mark Mamerow, Dave. S., Mark O., Dennis Curley, and Geoff Carter Bots: As pledged. Guardian article link on increasingly polarized US of A. I was first going to let you read it, send my takes separate…(skip to link now if …
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Kickass Talks to Cops
Photo by Josh Hild on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis were among those at the recent coffee-with-a-cop breakfast at Vista West; and both came away well-fed and comforted by the reassurance that while the Madison police are very reluctant to get involved in cases of cheating at Scrabble; they …
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Kickass and Disappointing Groundhog Day
slgckgc, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper hasn’t been so let down by a commemorative day since boyhood Christmas gifts of socks and underwear replaced BB guns and toys: The 2022 Groundhog Day was a real bummer in that it passed by …
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Cold Hands, Warm Hearts
Artwork by Micheal DiMilo By Geoff Carter We found a charming handmade invitation in our mailbox last Saturday morning inviting us to a Weenie Roast at one of our neighbor’s homes that evening. Despite the forecast for temperatures in the teens, we were excited to get out and do some socializing—any socializing. So, we bundled up, walked …
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Dialogues on the Art of Stonewalling: The Average Joe Letters
President Joe Biden Talks on Phone with W.Va. Sen. Joe ManchinThe White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots By Mark Mamerow, Dave. S., Mark O., Dennis Curley, and Geoff Carter Bots, Minnesota Mark had some provocative comments that didn’t make the final cut of our discussion of the BBB standoff. I …
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Kickass and Groundhog Movie Remake
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis spent part of balmy, pleasant Feb. 1, 2022 scouting for possible scenes to remake the movie “Groundhogs Day,” including its theme of repeating a day until it generates emotional chaos. Embracing the undeniable fact that repeating Feb. 1, …
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Kickass and Fixing Things
Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, noted that while Phyllis transplanted and reseeded an entire garden from the starter device on the kitchen counter to pots on a windowsill, the keeper took on the project of replacing a broken hinge on an antique blanket chest/coffee table, a simple task that …
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Kickass and Those of the Forest
Shadowmeld Photography, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has finally finished his before-sleep book—”Those of the Forest” by Wallace Grange, which is an accounting of the symbiotic existence of all things, complete with all the necessary predatory/parasitic violence and transformative extinctions. There are no people …
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The Couch Potato’s Guide to Old Hollywood: The Legacy of Bette Davis
Alexander Kahle (1886–1968) for RKO Radio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter Bette Davis is—still, to this day—the grand dame of American cinema. Her screen presence has been like no other, before, or since. The gravelly and distinctively clipped voice, beautiful eyes, and brimming self-assurance that filled the frame every time the camera …
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Kickass and Gambling
Antoine Taveneaux, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, agrees with the keeper that there are those who marvel at the weekend gatherings of humans in search of spiritual sustenance, but for a more puzzling example of the species “searching” behavior, the keeper suggests visiting the so-called casino …
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Kickass and Banning Books
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is trying to assist the keeper in getting his novel—Margaret’s War banned; and has only succeeded in getting Phyllis to toss it out of the kitchen when the keeper carelessly leaves his ever-present promotional copy too close to a stove burner. Nothing is …
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Kickass and Beginnings
Image by Roy Harryman from Pixabay By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, encourages the keeper to avoid dwelling on endings and to concentrate on beginnings, and so it was most welcome to see a public message welcoming Phyllis’s granddaughter Alexis to the Marshfield Fire Department. Alexis has been building EMT experience with other agencies, …
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