Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports waking up much earlier than usual as Phyllis and the keeper headed across town to get a new right hip joint for Phyllis, the old one being high-mileage and worn out as a result in part of Phyllis having hiked in every national …
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Dialogues on Women and the Demo-Cats: Welcome to Kamalot
Attribution: Lawrence Jackson , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Dave S., Mark M., Mark O., Dennis C., Paul C., and Geoff Carter Sharing my flip flop on Kamala: Though I still worry ‘bout systemic racism…the problem is it’s systemic…. The theory I had was our Joe/Jane middle class voter would opt for …
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Kickass Visits the Prairie
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, agrees with the keeper and Phyllis that this is the time of prairie glory with such expansive growth of spectacular blossoming plants as to defy description. On a recent tour of family property west of Madison, Vista West neighbors Joyce and Jerry hosted the keeper …
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Kickass Welcomes Auggie
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis and the rest of the herd in welcoming newest member “August” produced by Natalie and Eliot and coming in as a 21-incher as measured in trout-fishing terms. Welcome, August! You are entering a wild old world at a time …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Wildcat”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo ★★★★ 1/2 For the Love of God: Review of Wildcat By Geoff Carter The creative process is a mystery. Understanding how and why individuals are driven to give up their time, wealth, energy, even their happiness in the pursuit of artistic perfection can make for compelling cinema, but trying to capture …
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Kickass and Sisters and Brothers
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, endorses the keeper’s observation that the gathering at the riverside cookout on a recent hot afternoon had a lot to do with Woodington sisters and Stokes brothers with histories dating back to the early days of Madison’s near westside communities. The sisters and brothers …
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Kickass Tours Westfield
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that as Phyllis was lunching with granddaughter Alexis in Westfield, the keeper did a patrol of nostalgia around the area that for 40 plus years starting in 1961 was where he most wanted to be. The A-frame cabin he and friends built along …
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Kickass Stays Up Late
Attribution: See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis stayed up past their bedtime to watch Biden and Kamala greet the return of the former Russian prisoners, agreeing that the airport blend of show biz., politics and basic humanity was worth …
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Kickass and Davis Review
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, occasionally chews on one of the keeper’s books, and he seems to appreciate the attention. Authors, with their egos in tow, appreciate any attention, but it does not often come with the thoroughness and depth of a recent review from Jerry Davis, who read …
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Blue Skies
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter This is the twenty-first century. Miracles just don’t happen. We know water can’t be changed into wine and that people can’t walk on water and that two fish and five loaves will not feed the multitudes. Science tells us otherwise. Still, a lot of people still believe in …
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Kickass and Old Men Talking
Attribution: National Archives at College Park , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes the keeper’s amazement at how his old friends age while he—the keeper maintains his “not-long-out-of-high-school” self-image. So it was with seeing Hal again after 15 or 20 years. Damn, Hal has aged! He is still up …
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Kickass and Doddering
Attribution: Sonny doe, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper does his best to deny his identity as a doddering old man, but occasionally the truth emerges as it did in a recent grocery check-out line when the keeper held things up as he fumbled with …
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