Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, sometimes puzzles over the keeper’s technique for getting the day started, such as his scattering blueberries all over the kitchen floor as he pulls out the bacon and eggs. It turns out that spilling the berries—as opposed to “spilling the beans” has no hidden …
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Kickass and School Opening
The Pen in Hand Blog featuring Bill Stokes
Attribution: Roberto Ciucci, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Turkey_Gaziantep_going_to_school_(14166610457).jpg
Too Good to Be True
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter When presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris picked Minnesota governor Tim Walz to be her running mate, a collective sigh (a sigh that sounded suspiciously like the word “who?”) swept over the American landscape—a sigh that was followed by a series of questions. Who is this guy? Why …
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Kickass and Body Parts
Attribution: FE2656BA, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be working with the keeper to bring the business of human spare parts out of the medical shadows and into the strip malls with the auto parts dealers where it will be more accessible and perhaps even competitive. Based on …
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Kickass and Blueberry Pie
Attribution: Jessica Spengler, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, listens as the keeper announces the gold medalist of blueberry pie makers as Cyndy A, who also medaled in the soup-making competition as she generously responded to Phyllis’s temporary culinary sidelining due to hip replacement surgery. Lots of people reacted …
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Kickass and Loud Mufflers
Attribution: National Archives at College Park , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper is on yet one more of his “do good” efforts, this one being the control of those young idiots who modify their vehicle exhaust systems to make them sound like WWII bombing raids complete …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Love Lies Bleeding”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Killing Me Softly: Film Review of Love Lies Bleeding ★★★★ 1/2 By Geoff Carter Film noir, which never really left us, is undergoing a radical transformation. From its beginnings in classics like Double Indemnity, The Big Sleep, Laura, The Killers, and—more recently—Body Heat and Chinatown, we have taken that long dark highway from that …
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Kickass and Dreams
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, listens as the keeper lists a new area of complaint, that being the mysterious process by which dream subjects are selected and then produced. One might think with all the raw material the keeper has amassed he would not be plagued with a repeated …
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Kickass and UW Health
Attribution: Av9, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, fresh from exposure to the sprawling UW health care system as he retrieves Phyllis from her hip replacement surgery, concludes that the modern hospital may be both the ultimate point of civilization’s advance and the most complex …
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Kickass and Political Animals
Attribution: Guido Gerding, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in noting that there has been a flurry of internet photos of Dem. veep candidate Tim Walz holding various animals—dogs, a cat and even a pig, all the while smiling and appearing comfortable in animal company. …
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Kickass and New Right Hip
Attribution: Smith & Nephew, FAL, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in reporting that Phyllis’s hip joint replacement surgery went well and she will likely return home today. Not intending to make trouble, but the keeper is a bit concerned that Phillis has a new “right” hip and …
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Witch Hunt
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Republican Vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance has just recently stepped (or rather stumbled) into the national spotlight—no small feat for a man whose foot is constantly in his mouth. Even though in many ways he is a mini-Trump, some of Vance’s views are much more extreme than the former …
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