Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis visited their previous haunts in Mazomanie to find that a traffic light now makes things easier where the keeper once spent long moments waiting to cross Highway 14 to get to such places as the “Base Camp” restaurant, …
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The Couch Potato’s Guide to the New Hollywood: The Legacy of Leonardo DiCaprio
See Li, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter He has been called one of the greatest movie stars of his generation, which he is, but more that, Leonardo DiCaprio is an artist who has chosen to be more than just a pretty face. From his early work, including his spectacular portrayal of the …
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Kickass and Tracks in the Snow
Collinsalex2, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s recent exercise of his—the keeper’s, boundless powers of observation and deduction; enough, certainly, that if he had so chosen, he could have been another Sherlock Holmes, or at least a Columbo. (It is not necessary …
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Kickass as a Movie Critic
Photo by Geoffrey Moffett on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that the keeper’s movie-critic qualifications should limit him to commenting on spaghetti westerns, especially when the rancher’s daughter exchanges her dad for some “all hat” bronc rider. This dearth of qualifications is ignored, however, after the keeper and Phyllis watched the …
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Kickass and the Moment Poem
Photo by Laura Baker on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper abandons his most recent Phyllis-conditioned fling at poetry: Winter moment. Snow sifting down, Seasoning The gray cold. Then gone, No trace, No tracks. But it was there, And so were we: Together– In that moment; “Come again, “And again, “And …
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Kickass and Old Black Joe
Stephen Foster, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis occasionally share the songs from their distant past when one or the other of them sings a fragment of lyrics and the other then joins in to make for a duet that frequently breaks down …
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Kickass With His Own Eyes
Tyler Merbler from USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, having researched the growing inclination of people to put their own spin on things they see “with their own eyes,” suggests that in the interest of lessening the political divide, the following be accepted as …
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Big White Lies
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter On the anniversary of the January 6th attack on the Capitol Building, some of our leaders stepped forth to condemn the actions of the rioters as well as those who encouraged and enabled the violence. The enablers have described the attack on the Capitol as an “insurrection” or even—in …
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Kickass and Leopold’s Birthday
Pacific Southwest Region 5, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that while the keeper mentioned recent January birthdays, he missed Aldo Leopold’s on Jan.11 which marked 135 years since Leopold’s birth in 1887. (Leopold died in 1948 of a heart attack while fighting a wildfire on neighbor’s property.) …
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Kickass and Skunk Style
Photo by Bryan Padron on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper assesses the degree of hibernation necessary to survive a Wisconsin winter, and compares the actions—inactions, actually—of himself and Phyllis to that of the “dumb” animals such as skunks that are dozing through the numbing cold and snow in cozy dens. Skunks …
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Kickass and Yon Yonson
The Strobridge Lithographing Co., Cincinnati & New York, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that in the clutter of the keeper’s cranial closet is a version of the nonsense song, “My name is Yon Yonson, I come from Wisconsin….” as it was long ago recited by boyhood pal …
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The Couch Potato’s Guide to New Hollywood: The Legacy of Denzel Washington
Falkenauge, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter In the three and one-half decades since he’s been a screen actor, Denzel Washington has pretty much done it all. He’s known as one of the film industry’s most charismatic leading men, which is exceedingly evident in works like the titular role in Malcolm X or as the …
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