NASA/Frank Michaux, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports on the keeper’s contention that even the dullest human observers must conclude that billionaires flying off into space means that eventually the rich one-percenters—having destroyed planet Earth for profit, will occupy other planets while most of the populace will ride …
Read
Kickass and 1953 All-Star Game 2021
Picture by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has no real choice about where to go with his posting on the day of MLB’s All-Star game, and so he goes there: back to 1953 in Cincinnati when he was a young-post Korea-soldier and was down on Crosley Field-pre-game-by …
Read
The Couch Potato’s Guide to the Best of the Best: The Films of the Coen Brothers
Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter From their very first production, the quirky genre-bending thriller, Blood Simple, to their latest film, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, an anthology of short films simultaneously deifying and lampooning the Western genre, the Coen Brothers have made films that are—to say the very least—unpredictable. Their stories have …
Read
Kickass Drinks Water
Photo by PB’s Photography from Pexels By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis ended their down-the-Mississippi excursion when the keeper experienced a sudden debilitating state of dehydration that left him as incapacitated as he has ever been from too much liquid intake. It was an embarrassing event that involved rescue and recovery at …
Read
Independence Day
Artwork by Michael DiMilo Article by Geoff Carter Our nation just celebrated The Fourth of July. Any American can—hopefully—tell you what this holiday is all about. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, severing all American ties with Great Britain. The founding fathers were sick of being taxed and …
Read
Kickass Takes a River Break
TheUnseen011101, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis will be taking their show on the road with a brief tour of Mississippi River environs in the Lacrosse area, with no more serious purpose than to check out the incredible Mayfly hatch, take a river …
Read
Kickass and the Minimum Dumbness Plan
Robin Vos Lehnmat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is trying to assist the keeper in formulating a “Minimum Dumbness Program” (MDP) whereby individuals are prevented by law from reaching a level of dumbness in which they think they are getting a fair shake in a government owned by …
Read
Kickass and Returning to the Sea
Royalbroil, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper along the Wisconsin River and other waterways on the brink of summer to plead for active acknowledgment that since the human species came crawling out of the sea, there is really only one way for it to return permanently …
Read
The Couch Potato’s Guide to the Best of the Best: The Films of Steven Spielberg
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Spielberg is the man. He’s a legend. He’s a franchise. As a director, he’s personified the Hollywood gold standard since 1975, the year of the first ever summer blockbuster, Jaws. As an artist, he’s written and directed films that examine myriad manifestations …
Read
Kickass and Alien 4th of July
Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper is in receipt of a decoded message from outer space that reads as follows: “The entire population of that Earth country claiming to be among the most enlightened, once again gathered in the first darkness of an …
Read
Kickass and Fireworks Downside
Photo by Kristian Løvstad on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper recalls the 4th of July when, as a Trib columnist, he wrote that fireworks had a downside and were maybe not the greatest symbol of independence celebrating. Chicago readers reacted predictably with nasty letters to the editor demanding that the keeper be run …
Read
Kickass and VA Sleep Lab
Gabriel Vanslette, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the VA, in its thoroughness of monitoring how the keeper lives, recently looked into how he sleeps. Details are yet to come, but the wired-up night in the VA sleep lab impressed the keeper yet again with the dedication of …
Read