Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, having spent his “working” life gathering and disseminating information as an ink-stained wretch, appreciates the recent surfacing of a quote by either Einstein or Twain stating that when the billionaires finally control all the media, everyone else will be feeding …
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Our Right to Know
Attribution: Warren K. Leffler, U.S. News & World Report Magazine, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter The American people are deeply indebted (more than we know) to the free press and the journalists who risk their lives to uncover corruption, expose criminality, and preserve the personal freedoms in our lives. Without their work, …
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Kickass and New Wheels
Attribution: Photo by Mobio Marketing on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has a new set of wheels, and adjusting to them may require more than was demanded when his first wheels were pulled out from behind the neighbor’s machine shed in the form of a no-tires Model T Ford pickup that …
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Kickass and Remembering Up a Storm
Attribution: Photo by kim giseok on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis and everyone else in a post snowstorm St. Patrick’s Day full of bright sunshine and white snow covering everything green except the shadow of billionaires’ money. As is his fallback—not fall down—position the keeper goes back over the years …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: The Best of the Irish Cinema
Artwork by Michael DiMilo The Pen in Hand’s Top Ten St. Patrick’s Day Movies By Geoff Carter It’s that time of year again, that special day of days set aside to celebrate the joy of being Irish. Green beer, corned beef sandwiches, the wearing of the green, The Chieftains spinning on your turntable, and a …
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Kickass and the Birthday Snowstorm
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reveals that the keeper is responsible for the big storm having ordered it as a birthday present for Phyllis. His thinking was that having been born in Canada, Phyllis must like snow, so he ordered lots of it for her birthday which, being the …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “It Was Just an Accident”
An Eye for an Eye for an Eye: Review of It Just an Accident ★★★1/2 By Geoff Carter Illustration by Michael DiMilo We’re all familiar with the seemingly endless iterations of the revenge story. We’ve seen everything from Kill Bill(along with a lot of other Tarantino offerings), Nevada Smith, John Wick, Promising Young Woman, The Godfather, Sweeney …
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Kickass Waiting for the Snow
Photo by Russ Williams By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, once demonstrated his difficulty in waiting for something to happen, and perhaps his cloddish nature, by walking out of a live performance of “Waiting For Godot” the classic Beckett play in which two guys lounge about under a tree and talk about expecting Godot …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Oscar Predictions
Attribution: Photo by Martti Salmi on Unsplash By Geoff Carter And the Winner is…. There’s something about award season that’s magnetic and nearly irresistible—but still a guilty pleasure. A part of me likes the drama, the glamour, the sophistication and style of the Hollywood elite, but another part of me thinks that it’s a lot of hoopla that …
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Kickass and the Price of Gas
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, cautions the keeper about going so deep into his past that he mentions the price of gas at 5 gals for $1. Memory exercise of this kind tend to brand the keeper as either careless with the facts or performing for attention. His defense …
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Kickass and Phyllis’s Birthday
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, hands off to the keeper on this Friday the 13th, 2025, when it is compulsory to talk about bad luck and the weather, there being a foot of snow forecast for Sunday. The keeper may amp up his preparations for March 16, it being …
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Kickass and the Richest People
Attribution: Photo by Mathieu Stern on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that the keeper, like all peasants is fascinated by the regular reports listing the richest people in the state, Wisconsin, the current tally showing Diane Hendricks of ABC Building, Judy Faulkner of EPIC and John Menard as top “richest.” It warms the keeper’s …
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